Warmer Temperatures Expected For The First Week of Spring

Wednesday is the first day of spring, which is a welcomed sign for the Northwest Ag community.  After several weeks of above average snow, and below normal temperatures, many growers are behind to start the season.  Marilyn Lohmann with the National Weather Service said one of the reasons temperatures have been so unseasonably cool; the snow on the ground.

“Even though we should be getting highs in the 50's and the 60's, that snow cover kind of made an inversion everyday where its been hard to break out of it.  And finally, we’ve been able to get enough sunshine and heating to get out of that everyday, and we’ve been seeing those temperatures climb.”

With more and more soil free of snow, Lohmann expects soil temperatures to start climbing soon.  She said soil temperatures are currently in the mid to upper 30's with a few isolated 40's.

“I think we will start to see those finally warm up, even a little bit more, the sun angle is really good for it right now.  And, in addition, we’ll probably start to see some pasture growth and start to see some trees and vines come out of dormancy, finally.”

Lohmann expects temperatures to warm up and remain consistently in the 50s with some low 60s across the Inland Northwest.  She added there is a chance we could see isolated showers Wednesday and Friday, but rain totals should be light.

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