We 1 (1-07) Weekly Weather And Crop Bulletin National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released January 9, 2007, 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 94, No. 2 December 31, 2006 - January 6, 2007 For additional information, call (202) 720-2397. Highlights: Many of the Nation's soggiest regions--including the Pacific Northwest and the eastern Corn Belt--remained wet, while recovery efforts continued on the central High Plains and surrounding areas in the wake of late-December snowfall and damaging ice accumulations. For the sixth time since early November, weekly precipitation topped 4 inches across the majority of the Pacific Northwest. Farther inland, rain and snow maintained abundant to locally excessive soil moisture for Northwestern winter grains. In contrast, mostly dry weather prevailed across the southern half of the West, favoring winter fieldwork but maintaining southern California's wildfire threat. Farther east, mild, mostly dry weather prevailed on the Plains, except for somewhat cooler conditions in deeply snow-covered sections of eastern Colorado and western Kansas. Producers continued to assess the effects of recent snow, ice, and power outages on livestock operations. Meanwhile in Midwest, unusually warm weather prevailed for the fourth consecutive week, although wet conditions persisted in the eastern Corn Belt. For the second week in a row, temperatures averaged at least 20 degrees F above normal in parts of the upper Midwest, threatening the quality of stored sugarbeets. Wetness-related concerns in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio--where some weekly rainfall totals topped 2 inches--included saturated winter wheat fields and muddy conditions for livestock. Elsewhere, severe thunderstorms swept across the South on January 4-5, spawning at least a dozen tornadoes from Louisiana to South Carolina. Rain provided some drought relief in the southern Atlantic region, but slowed off-season Southern fieldwork and maintained wet conditions in the central Gulf Coast region and the Mid-Atlantic States. Early in the week, rain fell across much of the Corn Belt and the East. Meanwhile, some snow lingered from the central Plains into the upper Midwest. Daily precipitation records for New Year's Eve included 3.40 inches in Pensacola, FL, 1.33 inches (including 1.2 inches of snow) in Mason City, IA, and 0.98 inch (including 3.2 inches of snow) in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN. Concordia, KS (3.8 inches), measured a daily-record snowfall for December 31. A day later, it was the wettest New Year's Day on record at several Eastern locations, including Danville, VA (2.49 inches), and Bridgeport, CT (2.17 inches). Farther west, chinook (downslope) winds returned to Montana's High Plains by January 2, when Townsend (52 degrees F) posted a daily-record high and Cut Bank (79 m.p.h.) experienced its highest January wind since a gust to 84 m.p.h. was clocked on January 24, 1992. Cut Bank also noted a gust to 76 m.p.h. on January 5. Meanwhile in the Northwest, Seattle, WA, posted consecutive daily-record rainfall totals (1.77 and 1.01 inches) on January 2-3. Washington's wet weather persisted through week's end, resulting in a 3-day (January 5-7) rainfall of 5.42 inches in Quillayute and a daily-record sum (1.58 inches, in the form of 13.0 inches of snow) for January 6 in Mazama. Warmth was prevalent across the majority of the Nation but intensified toward week's end across the East. January 6 was the 30th consecutive day with a high temperature of 32 degrees F or greater in Madison, WI, breaking its winter record of 29 days set from December 1-29, 1881, and December 1-29, 1889. Farther east, the 6th was the warmest January day on record in Northeastern locations such as Windsor Locks, CT (72 degrees F; previously, 70 degrees F on January 14, 1932), and Portland, ME (67 degrees F; previously, 64 degrees F on January 4 and 26, 1950. New York's Central Park (72 degrees F on January 6) tied a monthly record previously established on January 26, 1950. Not surprisingly, snowfall remained scarce in the East. For example, Central Park continued to await its first snowflakes of the season, surpassing January 4, 1878, as New York City's latest first trace of snow. Meanwhile in Pittsburgh, PA, the season-to-date snowfall of 0.7 inch--all of which fell on December 7--represented the first time since the winter of 1889-90 that its seasonal total through January 6 was less than 1 inch. Farther west, a brief exception to the Plains' mostly dry week occurred in eastern Colorado and some neighboring areas on January 4-5, when several inches of snow blanketed previously hard-hit areas. Denver, CO, received 5.6 inches of snow, boosting its 3-week (December 17 - January 6) total to 34.5 inches. Elsewhere in the West, record snowfall totals for January 4 included 8.0 inches in Tooele, UT, and 2.0 inches in Harlem, MT. Elsewhere, locally heavy showers accompanied the South's severe weather outbreak on January 4-5, when Jackson, MS (2.43 inches on the 4th), tallied a daily-record sum. Unusually warm weather prevailed in Hawaii, accompanied by strong trade winds (locally above 40 m.p.h.) and heavy showers in windward locations. Weekly temperatures averaged more than 4 degrees F above normal in Honolulu, Oahu, aided by a daily record-tying high of 84 degrees F on January 2. Meanwhile on the Big Island, Hilo netted 4.35 inches of rain (236 percent of normal) during the first 6 days of the year. Farther north, cold, mostly dry weather prevailed across most of the Alaskan mainland, while heavy precipitation continued in southern portions of the State. Juneau collected a daily-record total of 0.98 inch on New Year's Eve, boosting its December precipitation to 9.37 inches (173 percent of normal). During the first 6 days of 2007, Yakutat received precipitation totaling 5.79 inches (208 percent of normal), including 24.8 inches of snow. Anchorage experienced its snowiest January day on the 3rd, when 9.6 inches fell. Elsewhere in southern Alaska, 17.3 inches of snow fell in Valdez from January 1-6, following a record-setting total of 84.3 inches during the last 15 days of 2006. National Agricultural Summary January 1 - 7, 2007 Highlights: Temperatures again averaged above normal nearly nationwide, with the exception of some areas of the Southwest, Great Basin, and Pacific Coast. Across the Corn Belt, Ohio River Valley, and much of the Atlantic Coast, the weekly average temperature was over 12 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, with parts of the northern Corn Belt exceeding their average by over 20 degrees. Snow cover was non-existent across most of the Corn Belt, but temperatures were not low enough to threaten winter wheat, though the crop remains vulnerable to potential cold weather in the future. Heavy precipitation continued to drench coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest with more moderate precipitation in the crop-growing areas further inland improving soil moisture levels for winter wheat. In the Great Plains, conditions were mostly dry. Snow cover was spotty in the northern areas of the region but heavier in the central Plains. Moderate precipitation fell across much of the Gulf Coast, Atlantic Coast, and Ohio River Valley. Florida growers harvested and marketed a variety of fruits and vegetables. In Texas, cotton and pecan harvest neared completion, while land preparation was underway for planting spring crops. Small grain planting continued in Arizona, along with harvest of citrus and vegetable crops. Showers in California slowed citrus harvest but benefited newly planted small grain fields. 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.nass.usda.gov. E-MAIL SUBSCRIPTION All NASS reports are available by subscription free of charge direct to your e-mail address. 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