Drew Lerner, Author at World Weather

New Data From Russia Freeze Friday Expands Potential Damage

Kansas City, May 13 (World Weather Inc.) – Missing data from Russia Friday morning limited agricultural weather assessment groups from determining the potential damage from hard freezes to wheat, barley and rapeseed produced in Central and Southern Russia. Damage was already verified from the previous weekend and early week freeze and the new data from Friday suggested more damage may have occurred in a portion of Russia’s Southern region. Now, the difficult part is assessing the impact on production especially without detailed information about crop progress in recent weeks since the last general hard freeze occurred around April 8. World Weather, Inc. is speculating that a little more than 40% of winter rapeseed and 6% of the winter wheat may have been subjected to the most threatening conditions, though this is highly speculative without knowing the true stage of crop development. This damage is from freezes only and does not consider the ongoing developing drought. Damage may have also occurred in a small part of Belarus and northern Ukraine.

Canadian Prairies Agricultural Weather Prognosticator For May 11, 2024

Recent waves of rain have brought some of the most improvement to topsoil moisture seen in years – for some areas. This prognosticator provides an update on the changing moisture profile across the Prairies. This issue also reveals a wetter outlook for both the balance of May and for June. Some detail is provided over the temperature outlook for the remainder of this month in the Prairies from a frost and freeze perspective. Some updates on world soil moisture are provided along with details pertaining to drought in hard red winter wheat areas and developing dryness in Western and South Australia. An update on Safrinha crops in Brazil is also included in this prognosticator.

SE U.S. Turns Wetter Except Florida Where Rain Is Needed

Kansas City, May 10 (World Weather Inc.) – A return of rainy weather has occurred in the southeastern United States in recent days after the topsoil dried out temporarily in late April and early May. Some of the greatest rain has occurred recently with southern Georgia seeing two to three times’ normal rain since April 10. In contrast, much of the Florida peninsula has had very little rain and seen a few days of very warm to hot temperatures resulting in short to very short soil moisture. Additional rain in the southeastern states over the next 10 days will reach above 2.00 inches. Portions of southern Mississippi to southern Georgia may see up to 5.50 inches of cumulative rain, which may create a flooding risk due to preexisting wet conditions in the region. Florida is expected to see some relief with 1.00 to 1.70 inches of rain expected in the next 10 days, though more consistent precipitation will be needed to fully replenish soil moisture.

Drought Relief Beginning To Shift North Into Central America

Kansas City, May 13 (World Weather Inc.) – A sluggish northerly progression in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) due to El Nino helped promote drier than normal conditions in Central America, Colombia, and Venezuela in recent months. While Colombia and Venezuela recently started to receive more significant rain, rainfall associated with the ITCZ has yet to reach Central America where drought has impacted agriculture and commerce for many months. Central America has begun to see some increase in rain recently, though the Panama Canal has not yet seen much relief to drought that has crippled the shipping industry over the past year. More frequent rainfall is slated for northern South America into Panama and Costa Rica during the next two weeks as the ITCZ starts to progress farther north. The remaining locations in central America and southern Mexico will stay drier-biased until late this month and in June.

China’s North China Plain In Growing Need Of Rain

Kansas City, May 10 (World Weather Inc.) – Drying has continued for several areas in the North China Plain and central Yellow River Basin. Rainfall during the past week was limited with temperatures often trending a few degrees above normal for this time of year. Moisture shortages are spreading and intensifying, increasing the need for rain for both unirrigated late-season winter wheat development and the establishment of the summer grains, oilseeds, and cotton. These areas will receive limited rainfall through the end of next week with temperatures again trending above normal. Areas near and south of the Yangtze River will have several opportunities for rain through the end of next week. Flash flooding will be a concern in Guangxi and neighboring locations, which could limit planting. Rapeseed harvesting should advance around the rain.