The past couple of weeks have been a roller coaster ride in the weather department.  We’ve seen temperatures below normal with wet conditions, give way to extreme heat in the mid and upper 90's, and now the hot weather will give way to more seasonal temps.  Dennis Hull with the National Weather Service says these cooler, cloudy, conditions won’t last more than a few days.

 

“Further out into the middle part of June, it looks like temperatures are going to be averaging above normal with less rain than normal.  Dryland pastures and crops with shallow soil, I think we’re going to start seeing some moisture stress.”

 

Hull told Washington Ag Network crop water usage surged over the past couple of days, hitting 0.4” on Monday; and he expects that figure to remain elevated in the coming days.  Hull added the dry conditions in the coming days will be good news for hay growers.

 

"If you are worried about it, you might want to do some fluffing, and that will shorten the curing period because the humidity level will be getting down to between 25%-30% from around mid-afternoon to early evening most of the next few days.”

 

Hull said one of the more glaring concerns of the hot weather, is how quickly the cheat grass dries out and become a fire hazard across the Inland Northwest.

 

 

 

 

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