Ag Weather Impacts

Ag Weather Impacts

Last Friday and Sunday were our first two strong wind days of the season and they turned out to be pretty effective leaf strippers, but fortunately no significant damage. Most farms had wind gusts in the 40 to 50 mph range. Rainfall this past week ended up being less than a quarter inch, except a quarter to half inch west of Ellensburg and in the Walla and Dayton areas. The weather pattern this week will controlled by a northwest flow aloft with weak disturbances, so Look for temperatures fairly close to normal, which is certainly colder than what we've seen lately. In fact, a hard freeze into the mid and upper 20s is possible over the northern and central Columbia Basin on Thursday and Friday mornings, where It could drop below freezing for at least 6 hours in the colder areas. And This may cause some problems for exposed water lines, if there're not drained or protected. It'll be most dry, with farms near the Cascades and Blue Mountains having the best chance for showers Friday night and Saturday but even then it should be only a tenth of an inch or less. Not much moisture is expected next week either. Soil temperatures currently range from the upper 40s to the mid 50s which is good for germination and development of wheat. With cooler air over the next 7 to 10 days, you can expect soil temperatures to decline into the lower and mid 40s and this will cause slower growth for not only wheat but also pastures.
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