Ag Weather Impacts

Ag Weather Impacts

Rainfall on Wednesday was mainly within 30 miles of the Blue Mountains and amounted to between a tenth and a quarter inch. Look for a ridge of high pressure to build over the Columbia Basin this weekend. So other than some isolated light showers during the afternoons, you can expect mostly dry and mild weather. This will continue to open up more and more fields for soil preparation and spring planting. The next good chance for rain will arrive Tuesday and Wednesday with rainfall between a quarter and half inch. Additional rainfall is possible the latter portion of next week as well. Soil temperatures range are mainly in the mid 40s to around 50 with the coolest readings where soil moisture is still the highest north and east of the Tri Cities. Soils should warm 3 to 5 degrees by Monday and then level off into the middle of next week. With these temperatures, good germination of recently planting spring wheat can be expected along with peas and potatoes. Mild temperatures are expected continue into the second week of April. Here we are at the end of March where we normally see our heaviest snowpack in the mountains. While most mountain areas have actually lost snow from earlier in March, the Blue Mountains are still holding at at between 100 and 110 percent of normal. Snowpack in the drainages that feed the Columbia and Yakima rivers have shrunk to between 80 and 90 percent of normal.
Previous ReportAg Weather Impacts
Next ReportAg Weather Impacts