Ag Weather Impacts

Ag Weather Impacts

Get ready for more winter storms. Another surge of Canadian air will combine with a strengthening Pacific coastal weather system to bring snow to the Columbia Basin today into Sunday. The snow will increase over the Yakima, Ellensburg and Moses Lake areas this evening and extend southeast into the Hermiston, Pendleton, and Walla Walla vicinity late tonight and early Saturday. Those western areas will likely have the longest duration of snow with accumulations of 5 to 10 inches while eastern farms may get 3 to 6 inches. Brisk north to northeast winds may produce some blowing and drifting. These winds combined with the precipitation will also increase the wind chill for newborn and weak livestock, so shelter and closer attention could be a good idea. The snow and drifting will likely also impact farm to market transport and farm deliveries. Look for more disturbances to bring even additional snow on several days next week. So between what fell earlier this week and what is expected this weekend and next week many Columbia Basin farms may catch up to the normal winter snowfall in just these 10 days of February. There's also a good chance the Yakima Basin mountain snowpack may return to near normal. And with the heavier than normal snowpack, temperatures will likely average below normal these next couple weeks, so it doesn't look like much field work will be accomplished the rest of February.
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