We 1 (1-05) Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released January 19, 2005, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin call Brian T. Young at (202) 720-7621, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. National Weather Summary Volume 92, No. 3 January 9 - 15, 2005 For additional information, call (202) 720-2397. Highlights: A sudden pattern change brought welcomed dryness to southern California and the Ohio Valley, but sent bitterly cold air into the northern Plains, Midwest, and Northeast. Torrential rain and high-elevation snow continued early in the week across southern California, triggering additional flash flooding and mudslides. However, precipitation abruptly ended in much of the West on January 11, followed by a warming, drying trend. Toward week's end, beneficial precipitation began to overspread the Northwest, where below-average mountain snow packs stood in stark contrast to the record snow depths and water equivalents observed in some locations farther south. Meanwhile, bitterly cold conditions persisted for much of the week on the northern Plains, where a substantial snow cover continued to protect much of the winter wheat crop from weather extremes. Weekly temperatures averaged as much as 25 degrees F below normal in northern Montana. Farther south, a brief spell of mild weather on the southern Plains was replaced by sharply colder conditions. Late-week temperatures fell to 0 degrees F as far south as Kansas, although a variable snow cover provided the central Plains' wheat with some insulation. Extremely cold, windy weather also overspread the upper Midwest, increasing livestock stress. Elsewhere in the Midwest, a final round of heavy rain struck the southern and eastern Corn Belt, triggering additional river flooding and maintaining soil saturation. As cold air swept into the wet and flooded Midwestern areas after midweek, complications included ice jams in still-flooded lowlands and heaving soils in some winter wheat fields. Elsewhere, a spell of record-setting warmth ended with a strong cold front's passage across the South on January 13-14. The record warmth boosted weekly temperatures more than 15 degrees F above normal in several locations from the lower Ohio Valley to the central Appalachians. Heavy showers and locally severe thunderstorms preceded the front across the South and East, followed by cool, dry weather toward week's end. In southern California, Burbank opened the week with consecutive daily-record rainfall totals (2.62 and 1.90 inches on January 9 and 10). Other California records for January 9 included 4.05 inches at Big Bear Lake, 3.79 inches on Palomar Mountain, and 3.39 inches in Camarillo. Downtown Los Angeles, CA, received 16.97 inches of rain from December 27 - January 10, breaking its 15-day record of 14.63 inches established from January 13-27, 1969. The 15-day total also surpassed Los Angeles' normal annual rainfall of 15.14 inches. The most tragic manifestation of California's heavy rain was a mudslide in La Conchita on January 10, when a collapsed hillside claimed 10 lives and damaged or destroyed more than 30 homes. Farther inland, the water equivalent of the Sierra Nevada snowpack climbed to 26 inches (193 percent of normal) by January 15, up from 9 inches (exactly normal) on December 27. From January 7-11, snowfall totals of 100 to 150 inches were common in the Sierra Nevada, with 152.5 inches reported at Farewell Gap, in Tulare County, CA. On the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada, the National Weather Service office in Reno, NV, measured snowfall totaling 38.3 inches from January 7-11 and 81.0 inches from December 28 - January 11. Meanwhile in southwestern Utah, Midway Valley (Cedar Breaks National Monument) netted 70 inches of snow (10.70 inches of liquid) from January 7-11, increasing its snow depth to 134 inches. Gothic, CO, collected 73.5 inches of snow during the same 5-day period. Meanwhile, record warmth across the South and East contrasted with cold weather on the northern Plains. January 1-13 temperatures averaged more than 20 degrees F above normal in several locations, including the West Virginia cities of Elkins (50.2 degrees F, or 21.3 degrees F above normal), and Bluefield (53.3 degrees F, or 20.5 degrees F above normal). From January 1-14, Virginia average temperatures of 51.8 degrees F in Lynchburg and 53.4 degrees F in Roanoke broke records for the first 2 weeks of the year (51.5 degrees F in 1907 and 48.9 degrees F in 1950, respectively). More than 50 daily-record highs were established during the warm spell, which peaked from January 11-13. Record for January 13 included 85 degrees F in Naples, FL, 78 degrees F in New Bern, NC, and 70 degrees F in Erie, PA. Meanwhile in Montana, temperatures from December 31 - January 14 averaged -3.5 degrees F in Cut Bank and -0.3 degrees F in Great Falls, the fifth-coldest such period in both locations. Great Falls' temperature averaged -6.0 degrees F from December 31, 1907 - December 14, 1908. Elsewhere in Montana, Billings' temperature fell 30 degrees F (from 33 to 3 degrees F) in 2 hours on January 12, then plunged to -17 degrees F on January 15. The last time Billings' temperature fell below -17 degrees F was in January 1997. Miles City, MT, collected four consecutive daily-record lows (-32, -34, -30, and -27 degrees F) from January 13-16. Farther east, Embarrass, MN, measured lows of -48 and -54 degrees F on January 16 and 17, respectively. Elsewhere in Minnesota, low temperatures fell below 0 degrees F on 6 consecutive days from January 13-18, its longest such streak since sub-zero readings were reported on 9 days in a row from February 4-12, 2003. Temperatures also fell below 0 degrees F from January 13-18 in LaCrosse, WI, the longest such streak there since December 17-25, 2000. Toward week's end, enough cold air spilled into the Northwest to set the stage for a snow and ice storm. Freezing rain accumulated to 0.25 to 0.50 inch in Oregon's Williamette Valley and in and near the Columbia River Gorge. Farther east, heavy rain abruptly ended following the passage of a strong cold front. In Missouri, St. Louis collected 2.78 inches of rain on January 12-13, boosting its total during the first half of the month to 8.78 inches. St. Louis' former January precipitation record of 8.53 inches was established in 1916. Elsewhere in Missouri, a January rainfall record was also broken in Vichy-Rolla (7.04 inches; previously, 5.57 inches in 1950). Daily-record rainfall totals on January 13 included 1.59 inches in Lansing, MI, and 1.48 inches in Lincoln, IL; records were established the following day in locations such as Orlando, FL (2.93 inches), and Lynchburg, VA (2.03 inches). The Ohio River remained in flood from earlier rainfall, cresting on January 13 in Tell City, IN, at 6.8 feet above flood stage. For Tell City and several other gauging points in the lower Ohio Valley, it was the highest crest since 1997. In contrast, 2004 ended with a sixth consecutive year of below-normal precipitation in Billings, MT. Billings' 6-year precipitation total of 63.40 inches was 25.22 inches below normal and 72 percent of normal. Although Billings' 2004 precipitation totaled only 11.08 inches (75 percent of normal), it was the city's wettest year since 1999. Early in the week, locally heavy showers diminished across the eastern Hawaiian islands, where 48-hour totals from January 9-11 reached 2.64 inches in Kahului, Maui, and 6.29 inches on the Big Island at Pahoa. Showery, breezy conditions overspread the western Hawaiian islands toward week's end, when Lihue, Kauai, netted 1.98 inches of rain on January 15-16, accompanied by a peak wind gust to 41 m.p.h. Farther north, bitterly cold weather replaced unusual warmth across Alaska. Weekly temperatures generally ranged from 4 to 8 degrees F below normal in southern Alaska and averaged more than 25 degrees F below normal across parts of the Alaskan mainland. Bettles posted a daily-record low of -57 degrees F on January 11, and consecutive daily-record lows were noted on January 12-13 in locations such as Ketchikan (0 degrees F both days) and Wrangell (5 degrees F both days). Only light snow accompanied Alaska's cold wave, although heavy precipitation began to overspread southern portions of the State toward week's end. On January 16, Juneau netted a daily-record precipitation total of 1.01 inches, which fell as 10 inches of snow. Nevertheless, January 1-17 totals in southern Alaska were as low as 1.41 inches (31 percent of normal) in Kodiak and 1.81 inches (24 percent) in Yakutat. National Agricultural Summary January 10 - 16, 2005 Highlights: A mass of arctic air held temperatures well below normal for the second week in a row in the Pacific Northwest, northern Rocky Mountains, and northern and central Great Plains. Though winter wheat is covered with a protective layer of snow across much of this area, snow cover is generally below average. As the arctic air pushed south and east through the week, temperatures fell in the Atlantic Coast States, Ohio Valley, Southeast, Delta, and southern Great Plains but still averaged above normal for the week. The clash of this cold air mass with a warm air system from the Atlantic caused heavy thunderstorms with high winds, hail, and some tornadoes in the eastern half of the Nation. Moderate to heavy precipitation caused more flooding in the Ohio River Valley. Conditions were mostly dry in the Great Plains and western Corn Belt. Farther west, however, continued unstable weather brought heavy rain and snowfall to the Pacific Coast and central Rockies. Heavy rainfall continued to slow fieldwork in California, although cotton harvesting ended. In Texas, the cotton harvest remained well behind normal but progressed well in dryer areas. Warm conditions in Georgia were favorable for small grains but caused early blooming in some fruit orchards, leaving the blooms vulnerable to returning cold weather. Florida growers harvested a variety of vegetable and citrus crops, although fieldwork was hampered by muddy conditions. ACCESS TO REPORTS!! For your convenience, there are several ways to obtain NASS reports, data products, and services: INTERNET ACCESS All NASS reports are available free of charge on the worldwide Internet. For access, connect to the Internet and go to the NASS Home Page at: www.usda.gov/nass/. Select "Today's Reports" or Publications and then Reports Calendar or Publications and then Search, by Title or Subject. E-MAIL SUBSCRIPTION All NASS reports are available by subscription free of charge direct to your e-mail address. Starting with the NASS Home Page at www.usda.gov/nass/, click on Publications, then click on the Subscribe by E-mail button which takes you to the page describing e-mail delivery of reports. Finally, click on Go to the Subscription Page and follow the instructions. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PRINTED REPORTS OR DATA PRODUCTS CALL OUR TOLL-FREE ORDER DESK: 800-999-6779 (U.S. and Canada) Other areas, please call 703-605-6220 FAX: 703-605-6900 (Visa, MasterCard, check, or money order acceptable for payment.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ASSISTANCE For assistance with general agricultural statistics or further information about NASS or its products or services, contact the Agricultural Statistics Hotline at 800-727-9540, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, or e-mail: nass@nass.usda.gov. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact the USDA's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C., 20250-9410, or call 202-720-5964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.