FL WEEKLY WEATHER-CROP NEWS Week ending July 27, 1997 Released 4:00 P.M. July 28, 1997 WEATHER SUMMARY: The remnants of Hurricane Danny dumped heavy amounts of rain in some Panhandle localities during the week of July 20 through 26. Unofficial reports of rain amounts from the storm are two to three inches from Allentown to Jay, eight inches in Milton, five to eight inches in Escambia County with mainly northwestern localities affected, and six and a half inches in Santa Rosa County. Scattered thunderstorms, spawned from the afternoon clash of the sea breezes and the passage of tropical waves, brought varying amounts of rain to many areas of the Peninsula. The rain helped to replenish soil moisture in Pasco, Sumter, and Columbia counties but some localities remain dry. Official rain totals for the week vary from about a half inch at Miami to over two inches at Key West and Orlando. Some reports showed rain falling at a rate of three inches per hour during a few of the storms. Temperatures averaged mostly normal to two degrees above normal. Daytime highs were in the upper 80s and low to mid 90s with Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, and Orlando recording highs in the 90s for all seven days. Nighttime lows were mostly in the 70s. FIELD CROPS: Topsoil moisture is adequate to surplus throughout the State with scattered areas of short moisture. Hurricane Danny damaged corn, soybeans, and cotton in the northwest corner of Escambia County. Other areas of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties suffered minimal crop damage. Ninety- nine percent of the peanuts have pegged. Peanut condition: poor 1%, fair 17%, good 45%, excellent 37%. Rain delayed haying in some areas. Sugarcane growth is normal. The 1997 tobacco marketing season started on July 22. Tobacco harvest is active. Forage is making good growth. Moisture Topsoil Subsoil Rating Last week This week Last week This week Percent Very short 0 0 0 0 Short 21 4 6 9 Adequate 58 69 70 54 Surplus 21 27 24 37 LIVESTOCK AND PASTURES: The weather has been favorable for pasture growth with seasonal rain and shower almost every day. Pastures in the State were generally good to excellent. Some west central area ponds and lakes were still low. Range Cattle Condition Last week This week Last week This week Percent Very poor 0 0 0 0 Poor 0 0 0 0 Fair 15 10 10 10 Good 75 65 80 70 Excellent 10 25 10 20 CITRUS: This week the citrus belt had some more high temperatures (the mid to upper 90s), heavy rains, and thunderstorms with frequent lightening. Moisture is adequate in all areas with new foliage and cover crops growing in abundance. Also, new crop fruit is making very good progress with nearly ideal growing conditions. Virtually all of the oranges are larger than golf balls and the seedless grapefruit are generally bigger than baseballs. The Temples, tangerines and tangelos are variable with some of the better looking crops dependent on recent grove care. Some of the fruit with discontinued care have larger quantities of scab, melanose and various insects. Caretakers are very active cutting cover crops prior to fertilizations. Summer spraying is being slowed by frequent rains. Dead tree removal and brush burning continue in all areas. Many of the larger growers continue to replant where older trees have been removed. VEGETABLES: Rains delayed some field preparations for fall crop planting. Growers in northern localities of the East Coast region began laying plastic with pepper planting to start within the next seven to ten days. Tomato transplanting around Quincy is getting underway with activity to gain momentum over the next seven days. Harvesting for local markets continued in many localities.