Drew Lerner, Author at World Weather

Eastern Australia Will Continue To Dry Down; Stress Possible

Kansas City, February 28 (World Weather Inc.) – Despite timely rainfall earlier in the growing season, eastern Australia has steadily dried down in recent weeks. Soil moisture has become too short to promote ideal late-season development. Timely rain would be welcome in the near future to support better growth as many crops finish developing and reproducing. The lack of rain was otherwise beneficial for the earlier planted coarse grains, oilseeds, cotton, and other crops that were maturing and getting ready for harvest. With the harvest normally beginning in March, a good mix of rain and sunshine will be needed to support good conditions for most crops. Eastern Australia will trend drier biased during the coming week, which will continue to promote less than favorable to poor late-season development. Maturation and early harvesting will otherwise advance swiftly. Production potentials will remain favorable for the summer crops despite recent dryness.

India Avoids February Heat, But Still Needs Timely Rain

Kansas City, February 28 (World Weather Inc.) – Temperatures in India during February trended near to slightly above normal; though, no excessive heat occurred saving crops from a stressful environment that might have hurt production potentials. Production potentials are generally good across India due in part to timely rainfall last autumn and earlier in the winter. However, many locations in western and southern India have been dry this month and dried down steadily. Northern India will see a good mix of rain and sunshine through the middle of next week that will be beneficial for late-season Rabi crop development. Other production areas will trend dry or receive minimal rainfall. Late-season development conditions will remain less than favorable in the driest locations of western, central, and southern India, most notably the dryland fields.

U.S. Wheat Damage From Bitter Cold Should Be Low

Kansas City, February 28 (World Weather Inc.) – An arctic airmass advanced across central North America overnight, dropping temperatures below zero degrees Fahrenheit in portions of the northern Plains and as far south as northern Nebraska overnight. Several areas in South Dakota, Minnesota, northern Nebraska, northwestern North Dakota, and northeastern Montana were snow-free or had little snow on the ground as warm weather preceded the cold spell. Winterkill was possible for the snow-free areas, which represent a minor amount of the overall winter wheat produced in the U.S. While minor production losses will be possible in areas hit hardest by the bitter cold, overall production potentials will remain mostly unchanged. There is no significant threat for damaging cold through early next week, though another arctic airmass could start to shift into the northern Plains toward the middle of next week. In the meantime, dryness remains a concern for portions of the Plains and western Midwest.