DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 527 AM CDT FRI AUG 29 2008 ...MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS CONTINUE ACROSS SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA... ...MODERATE DROUGHT DEVELOPS ACROSS TAYLOR COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN... .SUMMARY... FROM AUGUST 26TH THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2ND...PARTS OF SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...NORTHEAST IOWA...AND WEST CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN RECEIVED BETWEEN 1.00 AND 1.50 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION. THE HIGHEST PRECIPITATION TOTALS WERE REPORTED AT ZUMBRO FALLS...MN /1.42 INCHES/...ALMA DAM 4 /1.30 INCHES/...AND TWO MILES SOUTH OF AUSTIN...MN /1.27 INCHES/. MEANWHILE THE REMAINDER OF THE REGION SAW LESS THAN A HALF INCH. WHILE THIS RAIN WAS BENEFICIAL...IT DID LITTLE TO REDUCE THE GROWING PRECIPITATION DEFICITS ACROSS THIS REGION. SINCE MID JUNE...THE PRECIPITATION DEFICITS IN SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA HAVE GROWN INTO THE 4 TO 6 INCH RANGE. THESE PRECIPITATION DEFICITS HAVE RESULTED IN A MODERATE DROUGHT /D1/. IN WESTERN WISCONSIN AND PARTS OF NORTHEAST IOWA...THE PRECIPITATION DEFICITS HAVE BEEN MAINLY GROWING SINCE MID TO LATE JULY. DURING THIS TIME FRAME...PRECIPITATION DEFICITS HAVE GROWN INTO THE 2 TO 4 INCH RANGE. THIS HAS RESULTED IN ABNORMALLY DRY /D0/ CONDITIONS ACROSS MUCH OF WESTERN WISCONSIN AND PARTS OF NORTHEAST IOWA...AND A MODERATE DROUGHT /D1/ IN PARTS OF TAYLOR COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN. THIS RECENT DRYNESS IS MAINLY AFFECTING GRASS AND OTHER SHALLOW ROOTED PLANTS. IN ADDITION...MANY CROPS /SUCH AS CORN AND SOY BEANS/ ARE SUFFERING...BECAUSE THEIR ROOTS ARE MUCH SHALLOWER THAN NORMAL. THIS IS DUE TO THE EXCESSIVE WET SOILS DURING THE EARLIER PART OF THE GROWING SEASON. THESE PLANTS DURING THEIR EARLY DEVELOPMENT HAD ADEQUATE WATER TO GROW SO THEIR ROOTS STAYED NEAR THE SURFACE. AS THE QUICK DRYNESS SET IN...THESE ROOTS WERE NOT ABLE TO GROW DOWN FAST ENOUGH TO TAP INTO THE MOISTURE FURTHER DOWN IN THE SOIL. THIS IS AFFECTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF CORN COBS AND THE FILLING OF SOY BEAN PODS. IN ADDITION...SOME FRUIT IS MATURING SMALLER THAN NORMAL DUE TO THIS DRYNESS TOO. IN THE SEPTEMBER 2ND RELEASE OF THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...MODERATE /D1/ DROUGHT EXISTED ACROSS PARTS SOUTHEAST...SOUTHWEST...NORTH CENTRAL...AND NORTHEAST MINNESOTA...NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST WISCONSIN...WESTERN UPPER MICHIGAN...SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN...AND NORTHERN QUARTER OF INDIANA. ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS /D0/ EXIST ACROSS MUCH OF THE REMAINDER OF MINNESOTA...WESTERN WISCONSIN...CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN...WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN...AND OHIO. .LOCAL AREA AFFECTED... MODERATE DROUGHT /D1/ CONDITIONS EXIST ACROSS DODGE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA. ABNORMALLY DRY /D0/ TO MODERATE DROUGHT /D1/ CONDITIONS EXIST ACROSS FILLMORE...MOWER...OLMSTED...WABASHA...AND WINONA COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...AND IN TAYLOR COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN. ABNORMALLY DRY /D0/ CONDITIONS EXIST ACROSS ALL OR PARTS OF CLARK COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN...BUFFALO...JACKSON...LA CROSSE...MONROE...AND TREMPEALEAU COUNTIES...NORTHERN JUNEAU COUNTY IN CENTRAL WISCONSIN...NORTHEAST VERNON COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN...AND ALLAMAKEE...MITCHELL...HOWARD...AND WINNESHIEK COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST IOWA. .STATE AND LOCAL ACTIONS... NO KNOWN ACTIONS ARE CURRENTLY TAKING PLACE. .CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMARY... SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA... SINCE MID JUNE 2008...MOST LOCATIONS IN SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA HAVE SEEN BETWEEN 5 AND 7 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION. THIS WAS 4 TO 6 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. NORMALLY THIS AREA RECEIVES BETWEEN 11 AND 12 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FALL BETWEEN MID JUNE AND EARLY SEPTEMBER. DUE TO THESE PRECIPITATION DEFICITS...MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS /D1/ CONTINUE TO BE FOUND ACROSS ALL OR PARTS OF DODGE...FILLMORE...MOWER... OLMSTED...WABASHA...AND WINONA COUNTIES. WESTERN WISCONSIN... SINCE MID JULY 2008...MOST LOCATIONS IN WESTERN WISCONSIN AND PARTS OF NORTHEAST IOWA HAVE SEEN BETWEEN 2 AND 4 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION. THIS WAS 3 TO 5 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. NORMALLY THIS AREA RECEIVES BETWEEN 6 AND 7 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FALL BETWEEN MID JULY AND EARLY SEPTEMBER. DUE TO THESE PRECIPITATION DEFICITS...MODERATE DROUGHT /D1/ HAS RECENTLY DEVELOPED ACROSS PARTS OF TAYLOR COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN. MEANWHILE ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS /D0/ CONTINUE ACROSS ALL OR PARTS OF CROSSE...MONROE...TREMPEALEAU... BUFFALO...CLARK...JACKSON...JUNEAU...LA AND VERNON COUNTIES IN WESTERN WISCONSIN...AND ALLAMAKEE...MITCHELL...HOWARD...AND WINNESHIEK COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST IOWA. .SOIL MOISTURE CONDITIONS... AS OF SEPTEMBER 2ND...THE MIDWESTERN REGIONAL CLIMATE CENTER /MRCC/ INDICATED THAT THE SOIL MOISTURE IN THE TOP FIVE FEET RANGED FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES BELOW NORMAL FROM SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA NORTHEAST INTO NORTHERN WISCONSIN AND WESTERN UPPER MICHIGAN. MEANWHILE SOIL MOISTURE DEFICITS WERE UP TO AN INCH AND A HALF ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF WISCONSIN AND NORTHEAST IOWA. .AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS... MINNESOTA... ACCORDING TO USDA...NASS...MINNESOTA FIELD OFFICE ON AUGUST 31ST...THE SMALL GRAIN HARVEST HAS CAUGHT UP TO THE FIVE-YEAR AVERAGE PROGRESS DURING THE PAST WEEK. BOTH THE SPRING WHEAT AND BARLEY HARVESTS WERE 2 PERCENTAGE POINTS AHEAD OF THE AVERAGE PROGRESS FOR THAT DATE AND OAT HARVEST WAS 3 PERCENTAGE POINTS BEHIND. MEANWHILE...POTATO...SWEET CORN...AND CANOLA HARVESTS PROGRESSED AT A STEADY RATE LAST WEEK...BUT REMAINED BEHIND THE AVERAGE. THE CORN AND SOYBEAN CROPS CONTINUED TO RUN BEHIND NORMAL. ONLY SEVENTY-THREE PERCENT OF CORN WAS IN THE DOUGH STAGE COMPARED TO 98 PERCENT LAST YEAR AND 86 PERCENT AVERAGE. TWENTY-FOUR PERCENT OF CORN WAS IN THE DENT STAGE COMPARED TO 84 PERCENT LAST YEAR AND 59 PERCENT AVERAGE. SOYBEANS WERE 15 PERCENT TURNING YELLOW COMPARED TO 43 PERCENT LAST YEAR AND 32 PERCENT AVERAGE. AS OF FRIDAY...AUGUST 29TH...64 PERCENT OF CORN AND 65 PERCENT OF SOYBEANS WERE RATED IN GOOD OR EXCELLENT CONDITION. SEVENTY-ONE PERCENT OF DRY BEANS...79 PERCENT OF SUNFLOWERS...80 PERCENT OF CANOLA...73 PERCENT OF SUGAR BEETS...AND 29 PERCENT OF PASTURE WERE RATED IN GOOD OR EXCELLENT CONDITION. WISCONSIN... ON SEPTEMBER 2ND...THE WISCONSIN FIELD OFFICE OF USDA`S NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE /NASS/ REPORTED THAT THE DRY CONDITIONS WERE TAKING A TOLL ON THE CROPS. THESE DRY CONDITIONS HAVE STRESSED CROPS...AND RAIN IS URGENTLY NEEDED. CORN IN DOUGH STAGE REACHED 61 PERCENT COMPLETE LAST WEEK...WHILE CORN IN DENT WAS 20 PERCENT COMPLETE. DRY CONDITIONS HURT CORN DEVELOPMENT ON MANY FIELDS. CROP CONDITION WAS REPORTED AS 8 PERCENT VERY POOR...17 PERCENT POOR...26 PERCENT FAIR...41 PERCENT GOOD...AND 8 PERCENT VERY GOOD. THE 49 PERCENT REPORTED AS GOOD TO EXCELLENT IS DOWN FROM 62 PERCENT REPORTED AS GOOD TO EXCELLENT THE PREVIOUS WEEK. CORN HARVESTED FOR SILAGE CONTINUED TO GET UNDER WAY WITH 3 PERCENT COMPLETE. SOYBEANS SETTING PODS WAS 98 PERCENT COMPLETE WITH 10 PERCENT HAVING TURNED COLOR. THERE WERE REPORTS THAT THE NUMBER OF PODS AND BEANS IN THE PODS WERE DOWN DUE TO THE DRY CONDITIONS. SOYBEAN CONDITIONS WERE REPORTED AS 10 PERCENT VERY POOR...19 PERCENT POOR...21 PERCENT FAIR...43 PERCENT GOOD...AND 7 PERCENT EXCELLENT. THE 50 PERCENT REPORTED AS GOOD TO EXCELLENT IS DOWN FROM 64 PERCENT REPORTED AS GOOD TO EXCELLENT THE PREVIOUS WEEK. OATS HARVESTED FOR GRAIN WAS WRAPPING UP WITH 98 PERCENT COMPLETE. THERE WERE STILL SOME OATS TO BE HARVESTED IN THE CENTRAL PART OF THE STATE. YIELDS VARIED WIDELY ACROSS THE STATE. THIRD CROP HAY WAS 84 PERCENT COMPLETE...WITH FOURTH CROP HARVEST AT 19 PERCENT COMPLETE. HAY REGROWTH HAS BEEN SLOWED IN MANY AREAS DUE TO LACK OF MOISTURE. PASTURE CONDITIONS WERE REPORTED AS 23 PERCENT VERY POOR... 33 PERCENT POOR...26 PERCENT FAIR...16 PERCENT GOOD...AND 2 PERCENT EXCELLENT. EARLY APPLES WERE BEING HARVESTED WITH YIELDS LOOKING GOOD. SWEET CORN...POTATO...AND SNAP BEAN HARVEST CONTINUED IN THE CENTRAL PART OF THE STATE...WITH A REPORT OF GOOD YIELDS. THE FOLLOWING WERE QUOTES FROM FARM REPORTERS AND COUNTY AGRICULTURE AGENTS: BUFFALO COUNTY - WE RECEIVED ABOUT ONE INCH OF RAIN FOR THE WEEK. CORN AND SOYBEANS WERE AT A STANDSTILL...BUT THE RAIN WILL HELP. LOTS OF THIRD CROP HAY IS BEING MADE. WE ARE HAVING COOL NIGHTS. MANY GRAZERS ARE FEEDING BALED HAY ALREADY. CHIPPEWA COUNTY - MUCH-NEEDED RAIN WAS RECEIVED ESPECIALLY TO HELP THE SOYBEANS. CORN YIELDS WILL BE DOWN ON LIGHTER SOILS DUE TO PREVIOUS DRY CONDITIONS. THIRD CROP HAY HARVEST IS NEARING COMPLETION AND YIELDS ARE GOOD. IOWA COUNTY - CORN AND SOYBEAN FIELDS ARE SHOWING SEVERE DROUGHT STRESS. THERE IS VERY LITTLE REGROWTH IN ALFALFA AND PASTURES. .PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOKS... FROM SEPTEMBER 4TH THROUGH SEPTEMBER 9TH...TEMPERATURES WILL AVERAGE BELOW NORMAL AND PRECIPITATION WILL AVERAGE NEAR NORMAL. DURING THIS TIME FRAME...THE DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES RANGE FROM 61 TO 66 DEGREES AND THE NORMAL PRECIPITATION IS AROUND EIGHT TENTHS OF AN INCH. BEYOND THIS TIME FRAME THE 8 TO 14 DAY FORECAST FROM THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER /CPC/ FOR THE PERIOD SEPTEMBER 10TH THROUGH SEPTEMBER 16TH CALLS FOR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION. DURING THIS TIME FRAME...THE DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES RANGE FROM 59 TO 64 DEGREES AND THE NORMAL PRECIPITATION IS AROUND EIGHT TENTHS OF AN INCH. THE SEASONAL OUTLOOK FOR SEPTEMBER THROUGH NOVEMBER CALLS ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES...AND EQUAL CHANCES FOR ABOVE...BELOW...AND NEAR NORMAL PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY. .QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS... IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT... JEFFREY BOYNE CLIMATE SERVICES FOCAL POINT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 54601-3038 TELEPHONE 608-784-8275 E-MAIL: Jeff.Boyne@noaa.gov
.RELATED WEB SITES...
LOCAL DROUGHT SITE...
http://weather.gov/arx/?n=drought
LOCAL DROUGHT MONITORING SITE...
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/?n=droughtmonitoring
U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html
NOAA DROUGHT PAGE...
http://www.drought.noaa.gov/
MIDWESTERN REGIONAL CLIMATE CENTER (MRCC)...
http://mrcc.sws.uiuc.edu/index.jsp
ADDITIONAL RIVER INFORMATION -
NWS - http://www.weather.gov/ahps/
USGS - http://water.usgs.gov/
COE - http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER (CPC)...
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/ .ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... THE DROUGHT MONITOR IS A MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT INVOLVING NOAA'S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER...THE USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER CLIMATOLOGISTS AND THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...STATE COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICES...USDA...COE AND USGS. .NEXT ISSUANCE... THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED ON THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 18TH. BOYNE