Dreadful Drought Ahead?

[FarCenter]

As of January, 509 counties in 13 states were still declared disasters, notes one meteorologist. Allen Motew, a QT Weather meteorologist, says current conditions show a change in deep soil moisture levels in the eastern U.S.

Motew acknowledges that many forecasts are predicting those east of the Mississippi River will be fine, while those west of the river won’t be. He doesn’t believe that’s going to be the case this growing season.

"We don’t have La Nina to deal with, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expects the drought to persist through April for much of the western half of the U.S. and parts of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and into Virginia," Motew says. "Moving into May and June, the heat is expected to return to most of the U.S. while moisture remains a concern."

It’s possible that more areas will be impacted by drought-like conditions. Motew explains that the U.S. National Multi-Model Ensemble shows much of the Midwest and southeast will be dry. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration weather maps also depict extremely dry conditions for most of the Corn Belt, Motew says.

http://www.agweb.com/article/dreadful_drought_ahead/

[Auggie]

1. Potential problems starting in Northern California Wine Country

It's been very dry and warm, and that means grape vines are starting to awaken. The problem with an early bud break is that we can still get frosts in March ... and that can kill budding vines.

[FarCenter]

2. Last year, early bud break followed by frost wiped out the Michigan, Ohio and western NY grapes

There is an extensive growing of grapes for preserves and juice from the western shore of Lake Michigan to the eastern shore of Lake Eire. The crop was almost totally lost last spring.

Besides grapes, small berry and some fruits, like cherries, were also destroyed. Traverse City could hardly find enough cherries to put on its cherry festival.