Crop Progress and Condition for the Week Ending May 25, 2014.
Agricultural News: Kentucky experienced below normal precipitation and above average temperatures over the past week. Precipitation for the week totaled 0.56 inches, 0.55 inches below normal. Temperatures averaged 68 degrees for the week, 2 degrees above normal. Topsoil moisture was rated 4 percent short, 78 percent adequate and 18 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture was rated 4 percent short, 82 percent adequate and 14 percent surplus. Days suitable for fieldwork averaged 5.2 out of a possible seven. Primary activities this week included planting corn, soybeans and tobacco, as well as harvesting hay.
Crop planting progress benefited from warmer and drier conditions. Strong storms hit the state mid-week in some locations resulting in reports of wind and hail damage. Bottom ground has dried out in some areas which allowed for those fields to be planted. Producers continued spraying herbicides on corn and soybean fields and applied nitrogen applications on early planted corn fields. A lot of hay was cut and baled as conditions allowed, with many reports of yields from first cuttings being down from last year.
Weather:
Above Normal Temperatures and Below Normal Precipitation:
Mostly dry conditions moved back into the Commonwealth this past period. An upper level ridge built into the Ohio Valley to start out the work week with surface high pressure pushing east of the area. This kept skies mostly clear with a breezy southerly wind at times. Summer-like temperatures returned to the area with highs getting into the low to mid 80s Tuesday and Wednesday. Conditions then turned unsettled as a broken line of strong to severe storms pushed through the region later Wednesday and on into Thursday.
There were numerous wind and hail reports, with one in particular estimating hail in excess of 1.5 inches in Campbellsville. This was really the only major rainfall event for the week as the state was on average 0.55 inches below normal for the period. High pressure then moved into the Ohio Valley for the holiday weekend. This kept conditions dry with temperatures remaining around normal.
Temperatures for the period averaged 68 degrees across the state which was 2 degrees warmer than normal and 6 degrees warmer than the previous period. High temperatures averaged from 82 in the West to 78 in the East. Departure from normal high temperatures ranged from 2 degrees warmer than normal in the West to near normal in the East. Low temperatures averaged from 61 degrees in the West to 53 degrees in the East.
Departure from normal low temperature ranged from 4 degrees warmer than normal in the West to 1 degree warmer than normal in the East. The extreme high temperature for the period was 90 degrees at PADUCAH ASOS and the extreme low was 32 degrees at WILLIAMSBURG AWOS.
Precipitation (liq. equ.) for the period totaled 0.56 inches statewide which was 0.55 inches below normal and 50% of normal. Precipitation totals by climate division, West 0.29 inches, Central 0.34 inches, Bluegrass 0.99 inches and East 0.61 inches, which was 0.81, 0.82, 0.08 and 0.51 inches below normal. By station, precipitation totals ranged from a low of 0.00 inches at BENTON 4N to a high of 3.59 inches at MURRAY 1W.
