Ag Weather Impacts

Rainfall since Tuesday has been mainly a tenth to a third of an inch. The heaviest amounts of a one third to two thirds of an inch fell near the Blue Mountains from Pilot Rock northeast to Walla Walla. The weather front that brought the blustery rainy conditions Thursday has moved into Idaho and a drier westerly flow will prevail this weekend. A ridge of high pressure will keep the dry conditions going for the early to middle part of next week. Then around next Friday it looks like another surge of Pacific moisture will move across the Columbia Basin. Look for temperatures to average above normal today, closer to normal this weekend and about 3 to 5 degrees below normal for Monday through Thursday. Soil temperatures continue in the upper 30s and lower 40s, but will likely fall into the lower and mid 30s by this time next week. Growth of cool season pastures and winter wheat will be slow. This week we passed one of the markers for change of season with the earliest sunset of the year, so You’ll notice sunsets gradually becoming later. Yesterday NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center bumped up the chance to 70 percent for a neutral pattern in the equatorial sea surface temperatures through the winter even though current sea surface temperatures are averaging slightly above normal. They expect only a 25 to 30 percent chance for an El Nino to develop.