U.S. Winter-Wheat Freeze Tonight Seen Compounding Threat to Crop

[Purveyor]

Temperatures across the southern Great Plains will drop as low as 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus- 10 Celsius) tonight, compounding the risk of damage to U.S. winter-wheat crops that endured freezing weather last night.

Frigid air is forecast in eastern Colorado tomorrow morning, with temperatures dropping as low as 21 degrees in parts of western Kansas, said Allen Motew, a meteorologist at QT Weather in Chicago. Elkhart, Kansas, in the southwestern part of the state, saw 23 degrees last night, the coldest in the region, he said. “This morning was not the coldest -- tomorrow will be,” Motew said in a telephone interview.

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The freeze last night was mostly in Kansas, where plants haven’t started heading, the stage at which the grain emerges from the stem, Motew said. That will limit damage. Temperatures in southern Oklahoma and Texas stayed mostly above freezing, which prevented the worsening of heading plants.

One percent of Oklahoma wheat was headed as of April 14, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. About 21 percent of the Texas crop was headed, according to the government. Further freezing is possible in parts of the southern Plains on April 20 and again on April 24 and April 25, Motew said.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-18/u-s-winter-wheat-freeze-tonight-seen-compounding-threat-to-crop.html

[darkangel218]

1. Is this cold normal for this time of year?

I don't think it is

[Purveyor]

2. We have had an awfully cold spring here in Michigan. Just now starting to get buds on the lilac

bushes. Today is the first time this year that we are in the 70's but we have been under a tornado watch since 9am.

So far the radar isn't showing anything threatening so I'm going out and plant sugar peas.

Supposed to get cold again with low's in the upper 20's by saturday. Fruit trees are in good shape though because they haven't started budding yet.

Last year, we had 80 degree days in March and the fruit trees budded only to get frozen in April. We lost 80% of our apple and cherry crop and many growers were devastated.

[darkangel218]

3. I just dont know how anyone can deny climate change anymore.

It's been extreamly cold in Europe as.well. I have family there and they had an aweful "spring".
My dad has been noticing the sun setting at a different angle in the past years. He is a former science teacher, he knows what's normal and what's not. He said the Earth's axis has defenetly shifted, although nobody is admitting it yet. Of course the pollution is the biggest culprit in the climate change.
I wonder how much longer do we have left on this planet. Like any living thing, it will purge itself eventually of what makes it sick.