Weekend blizzard offers little moisture relief to farmers and ranchers

Brookings – The weekend blizzard, which dropped between five and 10 inches of snow on most of eastern South Dakota won’t have much of an impact on drought conditions in farm country says Dennis Todey, State Climatologist. “The blizzard will do very little for soil moisture because soils were frozen or near freezing prior to the storm,” Todey said. Because the snow was fairly liquid, Todey says when it does melt, it may contribute about one inch of soil moisture. With most of the snow falling in the eastern half of the state, Todey adds that central and western South Dakota farmers who planted winter wheat did not benefit from the storm. In addition to visibility issues during the storm, Todey says the storm creates challenges for many cattle producers who will have to pull grazing cattle off corn and soybean fields and move snow out of feedlot pens. For personal safety, Todey encourages South Dakotans to watch the National Weather Service Web site, weather.gov or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radio for winter storm updates and both National Weather Service and Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow network, cocorahs.org, for latest snow totals. For more information and climate updates, visit iGrow.org.

Comments are closed.

  • Weather

    Failure notice from provider:
    Connection Error:http_request_failed
  • Upcoming Events

    September 2024
    Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
    September 1, 2024 September 2, 2024 September 3, 2024 September 4, 2024 September 5, 2024 September 6, 2024 September 7, 2024
    September 8, 2024 September 9, 2024 September 10, 2024 September 11, 2024 September 12, 2024 September 13, 2024 September 14, 2024
    September 15, 2024 September 16, 2024 September 17, 2024 September 18, 2024 September 19, 2024 September 20, 2024 September 21, 2024
    September 22, 2024 September 23, 2024 September 24, 2024 September 25, 2024 September 26, 2024 September 27, 2024 September 28, 2024
    September 29, 2024 September 30, 2024 October 1, 2024 October 2, 2024 October 3, 2024 October 4, 2024 October 5, 2024
  • Recent Posts

  • Contact Us

    Ph/Fax: 605.796.4221
    Email: swj4221@icloud.com

    PO BOX 218
    Woonsocket, SD 57385
  • Archives