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Livestock Wx for March 7, 2019: By the Numbers
This week we’re adding a different spin on our weekly articles. No weather maps this week. Instead, we are providing some of the interesting numbers around weather this week. For example, NOAA released their monthly rankings yesterday for precipitation and temperature. The rankings look at how the previous month stacked up against the long-term record going back to 1895. We have included some interesting numbers from the rankings as well as other tidbits we’ve found. We hope these will be of interest to you.
200 head
The number of head of cattle that have died in Missouri from nitrate poisoning in February. High nitrate levels are due to a complex interaction of too much precipitation, then not enough of it. Nitrate levels start to accumulate in the plant stems when growth is halted due to poor rainfall. Too much nitrate can become toxic (Successful Farming).
2nd coldest and warmest
February was the 2nd coldest on record for Montana and the 2nd warmest on record for Florida.
20% in drought
The amount of land area in Texas that is considered in Moderate Drought by the U.S. Drought Monitor. Moderate Drought is the lowest drought category so no need for alarm but it something we should be aware of. At the beginning of December 2018, almost no part of the state was considered in drought. Oklahoma only has about 1 percent of its area in drought.
0.05” of moisture
Amount of precipitation Lubbock has received since January 1st. That’s less than 25 percent of what normally would be expected for this time of year.
1” in a week
The amount of precipitation Lubbock is expected to get over the next 7 days.
116th wettest
The 2018-2019 Winter (Dec-Feb) was the 116th (out of 124 years) wettest winter on record for Oklahoma. Not to be outdone, Tennessee enjoyed its wettest winter ever! Texas observed its 86th wettest winter. All told, it was the wettest winter on record for the contiguous United States.
Dos, as in the number 2 in Spanish
The number of years we could see the current El Niño event. NOAA and several other forecasters are starting to think we could see El Niño into the fall of 2019 and possibly beyond. Over the last four weeks, sea surface temperature conditions have strengthened and as a result there is a good chance we could ride this event for another year. It’s not unheard of for two years of El Niño, but an El Niño that is intensifying this late in winter/spring is unique. Hang on to your hats, this could be an interesting year!