Ag Weather Impacts

. A west to northwest flow will prevail across the Columbia Basin today and Saturday, so not much change from the past couple days, but get ready for a change next week. On Sunday the first in a series of weather disturbances will bring areas of rain to farms west of Yakima and Ellensburg and also the foothills of the Blue Mountains. The pattern will continue very unsettled with a chance for precipitation each day next week. Colder air from Canada will slide into the area by mid week and bring a chance for snow. It looks like the best chance for accumulation will be in the southern Columbia Basin from Walla Walla to Pendleton and Heppner. The colder conditions will limit growth of winter wheat, but at this time it’s good to get the wheat hardened off for colder weather. Soil temperatures have fallen into the upper 30s and lower 40s and will show little change this weekend, and then fall into the lower and mid 30s by next Wednesday. The root systems will continue active though as long as the soil temperatures are above freezing. After next week is December and yesterday NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center issued their outlook for next month which is calling for temperatures to average above normal and more precipitation than usual. If this pans out, we should see snowpack make some good gains in the mountains. With the temperatures averaging above normal, snow in the Basin end up less than usual or melting shortly after the snow falls.