Milling & Baking News - April 30, 2013 - 43


toward at least some slow improvement.
In the meantime weather anomalies
in Texas have been almost as extreme
as those in the Midwest, but instead of
it being too wet the region is too dry.
The Midwest pattern is expected to
change in late April and May and so
shall the pattern in parts of Texas. Numerous short-term bouts of scattered
showers and thunderstorms will begin to impact portions of Texas, but the
big soakings that are needed to restore
deep subsoil moisture and water supply are not anticipated anytime soon.
Light precipitation will help improve
planting prospects for corn, soybeans,
sorghum, peanuts and cotton.
The majority of crop areas in West
and South Texas have received 50% or
less of normal precipitation since the
beginning of January. Some areas have
reported less than 25% of normal precipitation. Both areas have trended seriously dry for more than 3 years and
the lack of precipitation since the beginning of 2013 has only perpetuated
the seriously dry conditions.
Crop outlooks in much of Texas will
remain unfavorable until a significant
lift in soil moisture occurs. Crops last

year suffered from a combination of
both dryness and excessively hot conditions. Temperatures this summer
may not be as chronically hot, but if
spring rainfall does not increase dramatically in the next few weeks it may
turn out to be an equally dry summer
with serious implications for many
crops. Temperatures are expected
to trend warmer than usual, but not
quite as oppressively hot as last year.
Portions of south and west Texas do irrigate, and as long as water supply lasts
there will be some hope for at least a portion of the usual production this year.
The changing weather patterns in
North America over the coming week
will set the stage for “opportunities” for
rain in portions of western and southern Texas and areas northward into the
west-central high Plains. The precipitation also may impact portions of central and eastern Texas, Oklahoma and
Kansas at times. No general soaking is
expected, but the occurrence of showers and thunderstorms will increase
so that pockets of improvement begin.
Eventually, the number of pockets experiencing better soil moisture will expand
and eventually an improving trend in

Weather Outlook

crop and field conditions may result. A
full return of “normal” weather is not
expected, but enough rain will fall to
move the region into a better position
for planting the remaining crops and
supporting some of their development
— at least for a little while.
The best opportunity for precipitation in the southern Plains during the
coming week looked to be Sunday,
April 28, into Wednesday, May 1. Precipitation potentials will continue during the May 2-9 period. Some of the
coming two weeks of rain will be lost
to evaporation within a short period of
its fall, but it will at least set a trend toward some improvement, and by adding moisture to the region there will be
less chance for oppressive heat and a
better chance for additional showers
and thunderstorms. MBN

Drew Lerner , president
of World Weather, Inc., is
a contributing editor at
Sosland Publishing Co.

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