2/07/09 A good PNW crop weather forecast

Farm and Ranch February 7, 2007 Grain producers attending the Pacific Northwest Farm Forum in Spokane this week got a friendly weather forecast from Art Douglas of Creighton University. The popular speaker said he doesn't think any crop damaging arctic air will make its way into the region the remainder of the winter. Douglas says after some storms bringing moisture over the next week to region February will probably then turn dry. Looking ahead to the spring and summer. Douglas." Well as we go into the spring in the Pacific Northwest here in eastern Washington and Oregon I would say about 80-90% normal precipitation. That is not real hot but at least with the earlier precipitation November-December it is not a bad amount of rainfall. Looks like as we go into the late spring, early summer, it will continue on the slightly cooler than normal side with some increase in moisture in May and June. and then as we head into the summer July,August, September I would expect a warmer and drier pattern." Douglas sees a cool and wet June. In Idaho he expects spring precipitation to be near normal to ten percent above average. He says the PNW should also have a normal wet season this fall. Douglas says northwest farmers have been lucky this past fall and this winter because there has been an El Nino which generally portends dry conditions in the region. But cold water in the Gulf of Alaska helped keep precipitation coming to the Pacific Northwest and now El Nino is expected to quickly die out. I'm Bob and That's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.