Ag Weather Impacts

Ag Weather Impacts

Plan on hot and dry weather to continue across the Columbia Basin. Our weather pattern is being controlled by a large ridge of high pressure centered over the Desert Southwest states. Death Valley California is the center of the extreme heat where Monday the high temperature was 120 and the low 101. We are watching for a disturbance to move through central British Columbia this weekend, but this will turn down the atmosphere's thermostat only a few degrees and then we'll see it rise again next week. No rain fell during the first half of July. Hay curing and wheat harvest are proceeding rapidly but these dry conditions are really taxing irrigation systems. Weekly crop water use continues between 2 and 2 and ¼ inches with lawns needing about an inch and a half. This is some of the highest in the nation, only exceeded by much of Texas. Spraying conditions will continue to be favored by light winds, especially in the morning. The low humidity will allow combines to keep rolling well into the evening and be able to start a couple hours after sunrise. A little stronger winds on Wednesday will increase the potential for any fire starts to spread rapidly, so extra caution is advised. If you need to bale alfalfa, you can expect humidity to be only slightly above 60 percent from around 2 am to 7 am. Dangerous heat stress is likely for today, but should decrease to moderate for Wednesday through Friday.
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