Volume 108, No. 39 www.usda.gov/oce/weather-drought-monitor September 28, 2021 WEEKLY WEATHER AND CROP BULLETIN U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Agricultural Statistics Service National Weather Service and World Agricultural Outlook Board HIGHLIGHTS September 19 – 25, 2021 Contents Highlights provided by USDA/WAOB Crop Moisture Maps ................................................................. 2 ocally heavy showers lingered in the Southeast, even September 21 Drought Monitor & Pan Evaporation Map .......... 3 after the remnants of Hurricane Nicholas decayed on Extreme Maximum & Minimum Temperature Maps .................. 4 L Temperature Departure Map .................................................... 5 September 17 over northern Louisiana. Eventually, the Growing Degree Day Maps ...................................................... 6 tropical moisture was swept away by a cold front, which National Weather Data for Selected Cities ............................... 8 was also responsible for heavy rain from the lower Great Summer Weather Review ..................................................... 11 Lakes region into the Northeast. Meanwhile, little or no Summer Precipitation & Temperature Maps ...................... 13 precipitation occurred from the . Summer Weather Data for Selected Cities ......................... 16 Pacific Coast to the Plains National Agricultural Summary ............................................... 17 In those areas, the dry weather favored summer crop Crop Progress and Condition Tables ...................................... 18 maturation and harvesting, as well as winter wheat International Weather and Crop Summary ............................. 25 planting. However, topsoil moisture in many key wheat Bulletin Information & September 16 Satellite Image of Western Burn Scars .... 38 (Continued on page 5) 2 Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin September 28, 2021 September 28, 2021 Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin 3 4 Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin September 28, 2021 September 28, 2021 Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin 5 (Continued from front cover) production areas remained insufficient for even germination and proper autumn establishment. Agricultural drought impacts were amplified in areas— primarily along and northwest of a line from California to the Dakotas— where rangeland and pastures have not recovered from a hot, dry summer and surface water supplies largely remain limited. Farther south, short-term drought impacts have become more apparent in recent weeks, especially in Texas and Oklahoma. Elsewhere, near- or above-normal temperatures covered much of the country, with widespread cooler-than-normal conditions limited to the Southeast. Weekly temperatures averaged as much as 5°F above normal in northern and central California, while similar departures (at least 5°F above normal) were common across the northern Plains and the Northeast. Readings averaged up to 5°F below normal in the Southeast, where temperatures were suppressed in part by cloudiness and showers and 1.46 inches in Plattsburgh. Bangor, ME, received 4.19 associated with the remnants of Nicholas. inches of rain from September 24-26. In contrast, the 8-week (56- day) period from August 1 – September 25 featured rainfall Lingering Northwestern showers ended on September 19; totaling just 0.88 inch (13 percent of normal) in Tulsa, OK. following a daily-record sum of 1.14 inches in Portland, OR, on Similarly, Wichita Falls, TX, received no measurable rain in the that date, Portland’s September 17-19 rainfall totaled 2.52 37-day period from August 20 – September 25. inches. Meanwhile, locally heavy showers dotted the South and East. Sanford, FL, was deluged with 5.17 inches of rain on Early-week heat spread from the central and southern Plains September 19, marking the wettest day in that location since into the Midwest. On the Plains, record-setting highs for September 10, 2017. Daily-record rainfall amounts for the 19th September 19 soared to 99°F in Borger, TX, and McCook, NE. included 3.31 inches in Huntsville, AL, and 2.26 inches in On the same date, Rockford, IL, collected a daily-record high of Chattanooga, TN. On the 20th, a 6.66-inch total in Savannah, 93°F. By the 20th, triple-digit, daily-record highs in Texas soared GA, represented the wettest September day in that city since to 106°F in Del Rio, 104°F in Abilene, 102°F in San Angelo, September 4, 1979, when 6.79 inches fell. Meanwhile, showers 101°F in Waco, and 100°F in San Antonio. Later, heat briefly and thunderstorms developed across the upper Midwest, where affected coastal California, where record-setting highs for International Falls, MN (2.02 inches on September 20), reported September 21 included 104°F in Anaheim and 101°F in Gilroy. its first day with a least 2 inches of rain since July 17, 2019. Even In contrast, cooler air settled across the Northwest, where Butte, with the rain, International Falls’ January 1 – September 25 MT (21°F on September 21), registered a daily-record low. precipitation stood at 14.39 inches, just 71 percent of normal. As During the second half of the week, cooler air also arrived across the week progressed, rain spread into other areas of the Midwest. the nation’s mid-section. Austin, TX, notched a daily-record On September 21, Carbondale, IL, collected a daily-record sum low of 50°F on September 24, just 4 days after posting a high of of 2.89 inches. The following day in Indiana, record-setting 99°F. amounts for September 22 included 2.11 inches in Fort Wayne and 2.07 inches in Indianapolis. In the lower Great Lakes Winter-like weather developed across mainland Alaska, where region, 4-day (September 20-23) rainfall totals included 4.83 weekly temperatures averaged as much as 10°F below normal. inches in Toledo, OH, and 4.47 inches in Detroit, MI. King Salmon started and ended the week with daily-record lows— Meanwhile, heavy rain also overspread the middle and northern 21 and 15°F, respectively, on September 19 and 25. Fairbanks Atlantic States. Blacksburg, VA, measured 3.00 inches on reported its first measurable snow of the season, 0.3 inch, on September 21, a record for the date. Elsewhere in the mid- September 20, followed by a 2.0-inch total on September 24-25. Atlantic, record-setting rainfall totals for the 22nd reached 4.31 Anchorage collected a daily-record precipitation total of 0.57 inch inches in Wilmington, NC, and 2.11 inches in Roanoke, VA. on September 23. The following day, Anchorage received a trace Wilmington’s 4-day (September 20-23) rainfall climbed to 9.43 of snow. Farther south, mostly dry weather returned across Hawaii, inches. Rain swept into the Northeast by September 23, when except some windward locations. Through September 25, month- daily-record totals included 2.83 inches in Williamsport, PA, and to-date rainfall at the state’s major airport observation sites ranged 1.69 inches in Rochester, NY. Elsewhere in New York, record- from 0.12 inch (16 percent of normal) in Honolulu, Oahu, to 6.32 setting amounts for the 24th reached 1.52 inches in Glens Falls inches (88 percent) in Hilo, on the Big Island. 6 Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin September 28, 2021 September 28, 2021 Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin 7 8 Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin September 28, 2021 National Weather Data for Selected Cities Weather Data for the Week Ending September 25, 2021 Data Provided by Climate Prediction Center RELATIVE NUMBER OF DAYS HUMIDITY TEMPERATURE ˚F PRECIPITATION TEMP. ˚F PRECIP STATES PERCENT AND STATIONS LOW HIGH .01 INCH .50 INCH WEEKLY MINIMUM MINIMUM OR MORE OR MORE OR MAXIMUM MAXIMUM AVERAGE AVERAGE EXTREME EXTREME AVERAGE AVERAGE AVERAGE TOTAL, IN. TOTAL, TOTAL, IN., IN., TOTAL, IN., TOTAL, SINCE JAN 1 SINCE JAN 1 DEPARTURE DEPARTURE DEPARTURE SINCE SEP 1 SINCE SINCE SEP 1 SINCE 24-HOUR, IN. GREATEST IN IN GREATEST PCT. NORMAL PCT. NORMAL 90 AND ABOVE AND 90 32 AND BELOW AND 32 FROM NORMAL FROM NORMAL AK ANCHORAGE 48 36 58 29 42 -4 0.80 0.12 0.43 1.79 72 11.21 94 78 48 0 1 3 0 BARROW 32 25 34 13 28 -2 0.52 0.37 0.20 1.68 259 5.15 132 88 67 0 7 5 0 FAIRBANKS 42 31 50 25 37 -5 0.24 0.02 0.22 0.37 38 10.89 125 81 53 0 5 2 0 JUNEAU 53 45 57 41 49 0 2.75 0.61 0.87 8.87 124 54.28 134 90 71 0 0 7 3 KODIAK 51 39 55 30 45 -3 0.00 -1.89 0.00 3.29 55 47.67 90 78 48 0 2 0 0 NOME 42 30 46 22 36 -4 0.11 -0.41 0.08 1.54 72 16.85 133 84 53 0 5 2 0 AL BIRMINGHAM 81 61 87 50 71 -2 0.54 -0.36 0.51 1.56 48 54.11 133 91 53 0 0 2 1 HUNTSVILLE 77 59 82 48 68 -3 4.40 3.49 3.30 5.95 193 53.12 134 98 59 0 0 4 2 MOBILE 82 62 89 53 72 -4 0.63 -0.54 0.32 7.75 179 71.07 138 98 51 0 0 3 0 MONTGOMERY 83 63 89 52 73 -1 0.12 -0.78 0.11 4.81 142 41.50 103 94 51 0 0 2 0 AR FORT SMITH 87 57 98 47 72 1 0.06 -0.94 0.06 1.88 56 33.62 102 90 29 2 0 1 0 LITTLE ROCK 83 59 91 50 71 -1 0.23 -0.48 0.23 1.10 43 31.96 94 90 41 1 0 1 0 AZ FLAGSTAFF 74 42 77 35 58 3 0.00 -0.53 0.00 0.84 40 18.47 113 78 26 0 0 0 0 PHOENIX 98 76 103 74 87 1 0.07 -0.06 0.07 0.62 113 4.83 81 51 17 7 0 1 0 PRESCOTT 81 53 85 49 67 1 0.00 -0.33 0.00 1.19 90 9.71 87 70 24 0 0 0 0 TUCSON 94 67 98 64 80 1 0.07 -0.19 0.04 0.43 38 11.41 124 67 23 6 0 2 0 CA BAKERSFIELD 90 66 99 61 78 2 0.00 -0.02 0.00 0.00 0 1.97 42 53 25 3 0 0 0 EUREKA 69 50 81 46 60 3 0.08 -0.08 0.08 0.94 205 14.74 60 95 74 0 0 1 0 FRESNO 92 65 100 60 78 4 0.00 -0.06 0.00 0.00 0 5.11 62 63 24 5 0 0 0 LOS ANGELES 74 62 82 60 68 0 0.00 -0.08 0.00 0.00 0 3.33 36 89 60 0 0 0 0 REDDING 93 62 99 57 77 5 0.01 -0.14 0.01 0.42 84 9.61