Ag Weather Impacts

This Thanksgiving week and next week are continuing to shape up as very busy weatherwise. The pacific front that brought our first batch of light rain and mountain snow Sunday night and Monday has strengthened and now is bringing near blizzard conditions to the central plains states. Our next storm system is intensifying just off the Oregon coast and promises to bring light snow and breezy winds to mainly the southern Columbia Basin tonight and early Wednesday. One to two inches of snow are possible southeast of Dayton to Pendleton and Heppner. The track of the center of the storm is expected to be across southern Oregon, so that’s why snowfall in the Moses Lake, Ellensburg, Yakima, and Hermiston areas will be rather sparse. Much colder air than we’ve seen the past few days will follow this weather system. Overnight temperatures will dip into the teens later this week and may stay below freezing all day Friday and Saturday. Another couple weather systems will open the door for December to arrive with a chance for snow again. Soil temperatures are in the upper 30s and lower 40s and will likely drop into the upper 20s and lower 30s, especially in areas that lack snow cover. This combined with th subfreezing air temperatures will halt pasture and winter wheat growth in near all areas. The latter part of next week looks like it will continue unsettled, but temperatures should recover to be closer to normal.