Agricultural News
Strange Cool, Wet July Weather Due to 'Unique Chain of Events,' DTN Meteorologist Says
Tue, 16 Jul 2013 16:57:16 CDT
Significantly lower-than-normal temperatures and above-normal rainfall for this time of year are certainly welcomed by Oklahoma producers, but the conditions do raise a few questions about what this means for the future.
Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays spoke with DTN meteorologist and market analyst Bryce Anderson about the unusual weather pattern which brought rain and mild temperatures from the southeast.
"It is really a unique chain of events that led to the weather pattern that we have over the Southwestern Plains going on," Anderson said. "A lot of it has to do with the fact that there was upper atmosphere ridging or high pressure out of the Gulf Coast and the Southeastern U.S. that was, for a while, combining with another large high from southern California and Arizona to kind of bring some pretty hot weather to much of the southern half of the country here not too long ago, about a couple of weeks ago.
"And, actually, those two highs split. And we had a cool frontal boundary that slid through the Great Lakes the middle part of last week, the week after the 4th of July. There was a little ripple on that that formed an area of low pressure that, in a normal circumstance, would have just kept on working east. But, not only did the high pressure kind of tear apart a little bit, but then there was a portion of the Southeast U.S. high that located more right along the New Jersey coast. That then forced that disturbance from the old cold front from Pennsylvania and West Virginia southwest.
"And the result has been this kind of real welcome moisture that we've seen with the impetus of that low pressure as it worked out of the Ohio Valley and then into the Southwestern Plains there was an inflow of Gulf of Mexico moisture moving northwestward. So there was the opportunity, then, for the rain to form and it certainly has along with the milder temperatures."
Anderson's weather forecast calls for warm to hot Midwest weather through the balance of this week, with little rainfall indicated. Corn and soybeans will mostly benefit in eastern areas, while western areas will see additional crop stress during a dry summertime period. A more seasonal temperature pattern and increasing shower threats will favor reproductive corn and developing soybeans during the six-to-10-day period; however, the best chance for rain will be in eastern Midwest areas once again. Drier, hotter weather will help improve conditions for the delayed wheat harvest in eastern areas during the three-to-four day period.
You can listen to more of Ron Hays's conversation with Bryce Anderson by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.
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