A freshly harvested wheat field shines in the morning sun south of Kimball Monday. Across the south Panhandle, far less than half of the wheat crop had been harvested, but farmers were hopeful continued hot and dry weather would hasten the process.

Conditions across much of the tri-state region have been summer-like over the past week, featuring daytime temperatures in the 90s, plenty of sunshine and clear skies, mild breezes, and only a few widely scattered thunderstorms.

While the summer weather has for the most part been conducive to harvesting wheat, the wheat crop hasn’t been ready for harvest in all cases, and an already tardy harvest has seemed to stumble along in fits and starts throughout the Panhandle and adjacent areas. Several factors have pushed wheat harvest deep into July this year. A long, cool, rainy spring slowed soil warm up and reduced growing-degree days, slowing plant growth and maturation. Above average soil moisture and heavily transpiring plant material has served to raise relative humidity, slowing dry-down. And many wheat stands have struggled against frequent localized but heavy thunderstorms accompanied by hail. On average across Nebraska wheat harvest is four days behind normal and probably an additional three to four days behind normal across much of the Panhandle.

Continued warm and dry weather should allow wheat harvest to hit high gear in the next few days. In the mean time, plentiful spring moisture and summer weather are pushing summer crops right along. Dryland corn and sunflowers, in particular, are showing a lot of promise.

NWS Outlook

An active weather pattern will continue for the remainder of the week, resulting in widespread, 1 to 3 inch rainfall totals, with locally higher amounts. Mostly dry conditions will be confined to the southern Plains and the Pacific Coast States. Heat will briefly surge northward in advance of a cold front, but by week’s end, hot weather will be mostly confined to the South and Northwest. The National Weather Service (NWS) outlook through August 5 calls for above-normal temperatures across the eastern two-thirds of the U.S., except in the Northeast, while cooler-than-normal weather will be confined to the immediate Pacific Coast and parts of the Southwest. Meanwhile, below-normal rainfall in the Northwest, the south-central U.S., and southern Florida will contrast with wetter-than-normal conditions in a broad area stretching from the Four Corners States into the Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic States.

For the complete article see the 07-30-2010 issue.

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