Ag Weather Impacts

Ag Weather Impacts

The storm system that brought snow to the Columbia Basin on Monday and overnight is slowly moving off to the east with some lingering snow this morning mainly southeast of the Tri Cities and Pendleton. Most farms received 4-6 inches of snow, except 2 inches or less were reported in the Ephrata, Moses Lake areas. Look for generally dry weather to return to all of the Basin this afternoon through Thursday. Now having this snow IS crucial as it will protect the winter wheat from the very cold late winter temperatures we will experience these next few nights. You can plan on temperatures getting down into the 5 to 15 degree range. There may be some moderation in the cold Thursday night as clouds increase ahead of the next weather system, but it looks like temperatures could stay below freezing in most areas today through the weekend. Even with these very cold temperatures, newborn livestock stress will be rather mild since winds will be light and little to no precipitation is expected. Soil temperatures are currently in the mid and upper 30s and could drop a few degrees especially in the Adams and Grant counties, where the snow cover insulation is minimal. Sunshine will help melt snow on roadways during the daytime, but this will turn back to ice at night where is does not evaporate or drain off. SO when will the cold end? No real sustained warmup is expected through next week as the upper flow remains northerly with the cold air being reinforced with a fresh supply from Canada every few days.
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