Ag Weather Impacts

Ag Weather Impacts

Columbia Basin farmers can expect mostly dry weather through next week to allow field work and planting to proceed. Although a cold front will push through the area today, its main effect will be to drop temperatures to below normal for this weekend and early next week. There will be isolated showers west of Ellensburg and near the Blue Mountains each day beginning Saturday, with rainfall amounts less than a tenth of an inch, so any field work delays should be minimal. Clear to partly cloudy skies will be the rule in other areas. You can plan on overnight temperatures to be quite cool due to the lack of clouds. Some of the more frost prone areas will see temperatures in the lower 30s, especially Saturday and Sunday nights, so protection may needed for tender vegetation. Soil temperatures at the 2 inch depth are in the mid 50s to lower 60s, but will likely fall to the upper 40s to mid 50s for Sunday through Wednesday and then warm slightly by Thursday. Small grains, pastures and early season garden plants should continue to develop well, but corn germination and emergence will be slowed. Irrigators can expect crop water use for the next week to be around 2/3 inch for alfalfa, winter wheat, and lawns. Although washoff risk is low, spraying conditions will be hampered by breezy to locally windy conditions this weekend. In the drier sandy areas, this may cause soil movement and damage young onions.
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