Ag Weather Impacts

Ag Weather Impacts

That weak cold front that passed through the Columbia Basin Thursday didn't bring any moisture, but the winds yesterday and the cooler temperatures are certainly impactful. Most farms had high temperatures in the 90 to 95 degree range on Thursday. Hottest was Moses Lake, the Tri Cities, and Yakima areas with around 100 degrees. The extreme temperatures, combined with low humidity around 20 percent and winds gusting 30 to 40 mph in some areas, zapped the moisture with crop water use just on Thursday between a third and half inch. Get ready for a week of high crop water use with alfalfa, onions, peas, early potatoes, and tree fruit needing between 2 and 2 and ¼ inches, lawns and early corn an inch and a half and melons about an inch and a quarter. Irrigation will be important as little or no rain is expected the rest of June. The lack of rain will be good for hay cutting, curing and baling. You can plan on afternoon humidity getting down into the 20 to 25 percent range. Light to locally moderate dew is expected to form most nights in irrigated fields, but could be less on Tuesday night with stronger breezes. Spraying conditions will be favorable with light winds, especially in the morning. Yesterday, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center updated the El Nino Advisory and is calling for a slightly better than even chance for the weak El Nino to continue into the fall and winter.
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