Weather

The Washington Apple Commission is out with the first estimate of the 2020 crop, which is expected to be around 134 million 40-pound boxes. That figure is on par with last year’s 133 million boxes. However, since the time of the initial estimate, the Northwest experienced extreme weather which most likely will impact the final harvest numbers. The ...

Cherry harvest is underway across the Inland Northwest, but it’s not without a few challenges. Last weekend’s thunderstorms dumped rain on groves at a very bad time, and on-top of that, some locations in the lower Yakima Valley have reported frost over the past two weeks. Because o ...

For many industries, 2019 was a challenging year with more setbacks than victories.  One of the few exceptions was the Washington potato industry.  Chris Voigt, Executive Director of the Washington Potato Commission said after a late winter snow forced many growers to plant later than normal, 2019 turned out to be a perfect year for Washington potato growers.   “...

2019 will be remembered as one of the toughest years in recent memory for American agriculture.  But there were many bright spots too, according Dale Moore, executive vice president of the American Farm Bureau.   “Seeing the Waters of the U.S. Rule get rol...

On Wednesday, the USDA extended sign-up deadlines for the Dairy Margin Coverage program to December 20th USDA officials cited the prolonged and extensive impacts of weather events this year for moving the deadline beyond its original date of Friday, December 13th...

The Farm Service Agency is encouraging producers to report any cold weather losses as soon as possible.  The recent cold overnight temperatures have resulted in growers across the Inland Northwest dealing with ice on fruit trees, grape vines as well as a host of other weather problems.  Th...

For some it may seem like a lifetime ago, for others it was an event that could not be forgotten quickly enough; the late February snow storm that dumped inches and in some case feet of snow across the region.  While much of that snow has been long gone, USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey said that snow is what spared the Inland Northwest from drought conditions especially in a spring and summer where

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association is currently working to build up a forecasting modeling system that will give more reliable long range forecasts.  Dr. Neil Jacobs says a key to better forecasts is coming up with more weather observation sources beyond the usual satellites and weather stations.  He...

What kind of winter can we expect? The Weather Service is scheduled to issue its major outlook later this week. But, before modern forecasting, and for some today, animals and insects were used to predict the weather ahead. One expert said most of these clues, like the coloration of wooly caterpillars are, “more of an indication of past events than a predictor of future conditions." ... Read

The month of May is starting very warm across the Northwest.  And that’s a welcomed relief for the Ag Community.  As National Weather Service meteorologist Marilyn Lohmann points out, April was slightly below normal temperature wise and a better wetter than usual.   “With ...