Jeff Andresen...This past Monday (September 21), showers and thunderstorms associated with the weather disturbance that recently brought extended heavy rain and flooding to much of the south and Ohio Valley ended an extended period of mostly sunny, dry weather across Michigan. Many areas had been dry since August 30. Forecast guidance is now suggesting some major upper air changes during the upcoming week leading to a cooler, more unsettled weather pattern.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Jeff Andresen...Low-level moisture moving east to west from the mid-Atlantic region Wednesday morning, September 9, may lead to a few scattered showers across Michigan through Thursday. Similar to the past couple of days, best chances for rainfall will be across southeastern sections of the state. Rainfall is expected to remain on the light side with daily totals generally less than 0.25 inch range where rain occurs.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Beth Bishop...Check out the overnight temperatures tool at www.enviroweather.msu.edu. This tool displays overnight temperatures recorded by area weather stations during the previous night. It also shows forecasted low temperature for the upcoming night. Late afternoon/early evening dewpoints are also provided.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Jeff Andresen...A jet stream troughing pattern was developing across the Upper Midwest Wednesday morning, August 26, which should lead to cool and unsettled weather for Michigan for much of the upcoming week.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Jeff Andresen... Following a summer-like week with above normal temperatures, the jet stream configuration across North America during the next several days is forecast to change back to a pattern somewhat similar to that in July: ridging across western sections of the lower 48 state and troughing across the east. In general, that should lead to a return of below normal temperatures.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Jeff Andresen... A slow-moving frontal boundary edging through a very humid air mass led to widespread heavy rain across much of Michigan and the Great Lakes region this past weekend, August 7-9.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Jeff Andresen... After several weeks with the same general upper air pattern across North America; ridging (and excessive heat) across western North America and troughing (and cooler than normal temperatures) across central and eastern sections, it appears that major changes are just around the corner, namely an eastward shift of the ridge to the Midwest and east.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Jeff Andresen... The upper air pattern that has dominated weather conditions across the Great Lakes region so far this summer, ridging (and excessive heat) across western North America and troughing (and cooler than normal temperatures) across central and eastern sections, will likely continue for the next one to two weeks.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Aaron Pollyea... Slightly cooler then normal temperatures and wet conditions will continue across the state for the next couple weeks continuing the trend that we have seen for the recent past.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Jeff Andresen...The dominant upper air pattern of the past few weeks, ridging across the intermountain west and High Plains with troughs across the far west and eastern United States will continue to influence weather across the Great Lakes region through early next week at least. With the main axis of the ridge expected a bit further west this week, northwesterly flow and cooler than normal conditions are likely in Michigan through next weekend.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Jeff Andresen... What a difference a week makes. Since late last week, the large upper air ridge that brought heat wave conditions to much the Midwest and South weakened and moved westward into the western United States. (Note recent 95°F-plus high temperature readings in many interior sections of the West).

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Beth Bishop...Computers and the internet have indisputably changed modern life, giving us almost instantaneous access to information. We have come to expect up-to-the moment information at the press of a button or the click of a mouse. But computers have their limits. Understanding these limits will save you much frustration and time.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Jeff Andresen... Almost as if on cue with the beginning of astronomical summer (solstice was 1:45 AM EDT on June 21), a large upper air ridging feature formed across central sections of the United States bringing the first major heat wave of the summer season.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Aaron Pollyea... Precipitation will continue over the Lower Peninsula today with the highest amounts in the Thumb area of the state. Models suggest amounts over an inch and a half through Thursday morning, June 18. Rainfall should continue across the entire state through Saturday with short waves moving through the region.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Jeff Andresen... The cool front that brought heavy rain to much of Lower Michigan on Monday, June 8, stretched west to east across the Ohio Valley Wednesday morning, June 10. An area of low pressure will ride west to east along the front late Wednesday and Thursday, spreading some clouds and a few light rain showers across extreme southern sections of the Lower Peninsula during the day Thursday.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Jeff Andresen... High pressure will move across the northern United States during the next few days, setting the stage for cool and dry weather across Michigan through Friday, June 5. A cold front will move through the state late Friday into Saturday. Given very limited moisture in place ahead of the front, however, only scattered light showers are expected in northern sections of the state with dry conditions continuing elsewhere.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Jeff Andresen... The area of low pressure with tropical origins that brought torrential rains and flooding to much of Florida last week will move west to east through Michigan Wednesday, May 27, and early Thursday, May 28. This system will lead to rainfall across most of the state, including northern sections missed by rainfall earlier this month.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Jeff Andresen...A cold front will move from northwest to southeast across the state Thursday, May 21, into Friday, May 22, bringing the chance for scattered showers and cooler temperatures for the end of the week. In contrast to many weather systems of the past couple of weeks, the front will have very little moisture available and only isolated light rainfall totals (less than 0.25 inch where rain occurs).

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Jeff Andresen... A cool and unusually dry airmass – dew point temperatures less than 20F and daytime relative humidities less than 25 percent – brought frost and freezing temperatures to some sections of the state on the mornings of May 10, 11 and 12. It has moved eastward and out of the region early Wednesday, May 13. A strong cold front will approach the state from the west by late Wednesday, bringing the strong likelihood of widespread heavy rain to much of the state.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Jeff Andresen... Frost and freezing temperatures are a major concern for growers during the spring. The last freezing temperatures of the spring season occur on average from the last few days of April in extreme southeastern sections of the state to early and mid-May over most of the Lower Peninsula to early June in interior areas of the Upper and northern Lower Michigan. Due to meteorological and local conditions, however, there can be significant variability in this date from year to year.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Jeff Andresen... A series of weather disturbances will move across the Midwest on an almost daily basis through Saturday, May 9, bringing mostly cloudy skies with several chances for rainfall across Michigan. Low-level moisture will be somewhat limited with these weather systems, so in contrast to the rainfall events of last week, any precipitation that occurs should remain scattered and on the lighter side with most events on the order of 0.25 inches.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Beth Bishop... Welcome to a new growing season. After a long, cold winter, it is wonderful to see all the signs of spring. Enviro-weather (www.enviroweather.msu.edu) has been spruced up for the 2009 season with a new look and new tools.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Jeff Andersen... If the past winter seemed unusually long and cold, your weather senses are right on the money. A high amplitude jet stream pattern characterized by large troughs across western and central North America set up just before Thanksgiving last fall and persisted into early March.

[Read the rest of this article...]

As harvest season winds down, take a moment to get familiar with resources at Enviro-weather. (www.enviroweather.msu.edu) There you will find current weather conditions and forecasts, potential evapotranspiration and irrigation planning, and pest prediction tools like TomCast and Pestwatch for corn earworm.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Darryl Warncke...Many vegetable fields have received excess rain and other adverse weather conditions. Loss of nitrogen by leaching or denitrification is a primary concern. Being able to dry the soil and till it to get oxygen back into the soil improves microbial activity and the mineralization of nitrogen. In order to further deal with these situations, sidedress 25 - 50 lbs N/acre. For onions, apply no more than 25 lbs N/acre. More at this time could delay maturity and storage quality. For later planted vegetable crops with a high nitrogen requirement apply 40 - 50 lbs N/acre.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Dale Mutch...On Wednesday, July 2, near Charlotte, Michigan, located in the central part of the state, there was a terrible hail storm that devastated soybean and corn fields. These pictures show a field of plants with no foliage on them. Throughout my 28 years with MSU Extension, I have never seen damage this severe from hail. At the MSU W. K. Kellogg Biological Station we were hit by hail, however, nothing in comparison to these fields near Charlotte.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Mathieu Ngouajio...At this time in 2006, we were all concerned about the effects of a warm spring on crop production. Then in 2007, we had a more “normal” spring in many regions. This year we have been experiencing a rather cool spring. Temperatures across the state have remained significantly below normal values and that is likely going to have important effects on the entire growing season.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Bill Steenwyk...A farmer seeking to avoid crop loss from last week's freezing temperatures reported that in some fields, the irrigated areas received greater injury than plants along the borders where the sprinkler heads could not reach.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Tracey Aichele...After a few weeks of warm weather and relatively quick degree-day accumulation, a low-temperature event may have affected crops throughout Michigan. Enviro-weather offers a few tools for evaluating potential damage on a regional basis.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Jeff Andresen...Scattered showers and thunderstorms brought some much needed rainfall to a few locations across Michigan during late July, but the rainfall was localized and drought conditions persist in many areas of the state. For the growing season thus far (beginning April 1), precipitation deficits have grown in many areas to the 3-5 plus inch range, although these figures are somewhat misleading since the majority of the drier than normal conditions have taken place since early June when crop water needs are relatively greater.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Mark Trent...MSU’s Enviro-weather web site came online in July of 2006 to provide a one stop site for weather-based decision making information to Michigan growers (view images). Since that time, fruit, potato, turfgrass, field crop, forestry and Christmas tree producers, and others have been accessing Enviro-weather to get local radar and forecasts, current weather conditions as well as plant disease, insect, weed, and crop development models. And now, thanks to a dedicated self-identified workgroup, Enviro-weather has recently launched its vegetable production page.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Mathieu Ngouajio...The expression “the early bird catches the worm” is well known by most vegetable growers. This is particularly important in regions like Michigan where climatic conditions restrict the growing season to a very short window for most vegetables. Because of the potential of frost damage in Michigan, most vegetable crops are usually planted within a narrow window of time. For most of the growers, the crops reach maturity at the same time and the harvest time is synchronized. Ultimately, all growers hit the market simultaneously. The peak in produce supply is normally followed by a significant drop in the price paid to growers. Growers who get in the market earlier (early birds) or later (late birds?) may take advantage of a better price. This note deals mainly with season extension strategies for earliness. Earliness usually involves planting the crop earlier than the rest of the industry. Therefore, growers who shoot for earliness take the risk of crop damage from late frost.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Mark Trent...Ready for its second season, the Enviro-weather website is all set to be your source for agricultural weather and weather-based plant and pest management decision making tools. Just visit http://www.enviroweather.msu.edu and you will have access to information and management products from 50 weather stations across Michigan.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Jeff Andresen and Aaron Pollyea...Unusually hot and humid weather impacted nearly all continental United States during the last two weeks of July and the first week of August. Nationally, more than 2,300 individual daily records for high temperatures were broken as well as 50 new records for the hottest July temperature ever.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Jeff Andresen...Earlier this year, meteorologists at Accu-Weather, a commercial meteorological firm in Pennsylvania, released an extended outlook that mentioned the possible return of “Dust-Bowl” type conditions to portions of the central United States. The Dust-Bowl era of the 1930s (especially 1934 and 1936) included some of the most severe heat and drought conditions experienced in the central United States during the last century. Many of the climatological records in Michigan for extreme maximum temperatures, including the state’s all-time high temperature of 112 EF at Mio (July 13, 1936), were set in the 1930s.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Mathieu Ngouajio...Between May 28 and 29 the weather favored a clear and sunny sky with maximum temperatures exceeded 90°F in many parts of the state. These conditions in early season are conducive to heat injury with plastic mulches because the crop canopy is not yet large enough to cover an important portion of the mulch. Black plastic mulches are widely use in vegetable production to control weeds and to warm the soil in early season. However, under hot and sunny days they can cause significant injury to the crop. The injury is usually related to heat and is either direct or indirect or both.

[Read the rest of this article...]