Ag Weather Impacts

Ag Weather Impacts

After being smothered in very unhealthy thick smoke for the last few days, we are anticipating a wind shift late Wednesday. And with this, the smoke from fires in northern and central Washington should start blowing more to the east keeping it mainly north of Ellensburg to Moses Lake. So, good news for orchard workers picking apples and peaches and also fair goers in the Tri Cities area. That smoke actually decreased the peak midday solar radiation by one third. Otherwise, you can expect dry weather into Sunday. Most farms have not had rain for 8 to 10 weeks. Thunderstorms last Thursday and Friday only brought more problems with fire starts rather than beneficial moisture. Rainfall amounts were mainly less than a tenth of an inch southeast of a line from Condon to Dayton. Now there was an isolated cell that did give up to a quarter inch in the Sunnyside and Toppenish area. Upcoming, we are watching a couple weather systems to cross the area next week that will likely drop temperatures to below normal. Yes, that's right, I said below normal temperatures. Currently, these fronts look to be mostly dry, but hay harvesters will want to check upcoming forecasts in case hay needs to be baled sooner or swathing delayed. Evapotranspiration for the next 7 days is predicted to be around an inch and a quarter for alfalfa and an inch for lawns.
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