sc-crop-weather South Carolina Weekly Weather and Crop Progress Report Released: May 29, 2012 Week Ending Date: May 27, 2012 Issue: SC-CW002212 GENERAL Very little sustained rainfall was observed during the week ending May 27, 2012. Soil moisture conditions dropped sharply to 7% very short, 33% short, 58% adequate and 2% surplus due to high temperatures and sparse showers. Some measurable hail damage was observed in the north coastal regions with one inch hail falling on crops. Tropical Storm Beryl provided some showers in the coastal areas late in the week but did not affect the majority of the State. The State average temperature for the period was four degrees above normal with 6.1 days suitable for fieldwork. The State average rainfall for the period was 0.4 inches. FIELD CROPS Five percent of CORN had silked by Sunday, earlier than historical averages. Conditions improved to 3% poor, 31% fair, 58% good and 8% excellent. COTTON planting was 85% complete by the end of the week, one point ahead of the five year average. Two percent of the crop had squared. Eighty-one percent of PEANUTS were planted, eleven points ahead of last year. SOYBEANS were 50% planted and 35% emerged by Sunday. OATS and WINTER WHEAT were 100% colored and 85% ripe. Twenty percent of small grains had been harvested. TOBACCO conditions improved to 1% poor, 38% fair, 56% good and 5% excellent. Eighty- five percent of HAY had been harvested, two points behind the five year average. OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST TOMATO conditions declined to 46% fair, 44% good and 10% excellent. All CUCUMBERS had been planted and 20% had been harvested. SNAPBEAN harvest was 10% complete. PEACH harvest remained ahead of schedule with 20% harvested by Sunday. Conditions improved to 1% poor, 53% fair, 42% good and 4% excellent. PASTURE conditions declined slightly to 1% very poor, 9% poor, 42% fair, 47% good and 1% excellent. LIVESTOCK conditions also declined slightly to 1% very poor, 2% poor, 31% fair, 65% good and 1% excellent. Crop Progress for Week Ending May 27, 2012 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop and Stage : 2012 : 2011 :5-Yr Avg :: Crop and Stage : 2012 : 2011 :5-Yr Avg ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent :: : Percent : :: : Corn, Silked : 15 0 0 :: Peaches, Harvested : 20 9 5 Cotton, Planted : 85 83 84 :: Peanuts, Planted : 81 70 71 Cotton, Squared : 2 0 0 :: Snapbeans, Fresh, Harvested : 10 0 0 Cucumbers, Fresh, Planted : 100 100 99 :: Soybeans, Planted : 50 56 47 Cucumbers, Fresh, Harvested : 20 16 6 :: Soybeans, Emerged : 35 40 31 Hay, Grain Hay, Harvested : 85 82 87 :: Winter Wheat, Turning Color : 100 96 89 Oats, Turned Color : 100 97 92 :: Winter Wheat, Ripe : 85 47 38 Oats, Ripe : 85 60 49 :: Winter Wheat, Harvested : 20 0 0 Oats, Harvested : 20 20 14 :: : ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Condition for Week Ending May 27, 2012 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor: Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent :: Crop :Very Poor: Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent :: : Percent : :: : Cantaloup : 0 1 46 53 0 :: Peaches : 0 1 53 42 4 Corn : 0 3 31 58 8 :: Peanuts : 0 1 33 64 2 Cotton : 0 1 33 62 4 :: Snapbeans : 0 0 63 33 4 Cucumbers : 0 0 62 37 1 :: Tobacco : 0 1 38 56 5 Livestock : 1 2 31 65 1 :: Tomatoes : 0 0 46 44 10 Oats : 1 3 33 59 4 :: Watermelons : 0 1 44 50 5 Pasture : 1 9 42 47 1 :: Winter Wheat : 0 3 37 56 4 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coming soon - NASS's annual June surveys on crops and livestock. In the first two weeks of June, NASS will survey about 140,000 U.S. producers and visit 42,000 tracts of farm land to collect information. Responses to these surveys provide the foundation for estimates in the upcoming growing year and will first be released in the Acreage and other reports on June 29. Watch for the survey and be sure to respond. Your information matters! South Carolina Weekly Weather Summary for the Week Ending May 27, 2012 The third week of May began with mostly sunny and warm weather. Saluda and Kingstree reached 88 degrees on Monday afternoon. While most of the State was rain free, a late evening thunderstorm over Florence left 0.70 inches of rain. On Tuesday morning, Lake City and Georgetown cooled to 62 degrees. A few coastal thunderstorms developed during the middle of the day. One-inch hail fell for almost thirty minutes near the Sampit community. At 6:41 p.m., National Weather Service instruments at Pineville measured a thunderstorm wind gust of 59 mph. Scattered storms over the Upstate produced rainfall amounts of 0.81 inches at Ninety Nine Islands and 0.78 inches at Sandy Springs. Thunder showers formed along the coastal plain on Wednesday and drifted westward. Darlington received a localized soaking of 2.00 inches. Pinopolis and Bamberg reported Wednesday afternoon high temperatures of 91 degrees. Summerville and Orangeburg reported 91 degrees on Thursday, and Clemson and Clinton noted Friday afternoon high temperatures of 92 degrees. At 11:00 p.m. on Friday night, Subtropical Storm Beryl formed 305 miles east of Charleston. Although the feature traveled southwest and well offshore towards the northern Florida coast, a few light showers brushed the central coastal counties. McClellanville measured just 0.06 inches. Sunny weather on Saturday pushed the mercury to 93 degrees at Calhoun Falls and Clemson. A strengthening and upgraded Tropical Storm Beryl caused pressure gradient winds on Sunday to reach 44 mph on the Charleston Ravenel Bridge and 36 mph at the C-MAN station on Folly Beach. During the day, the outermost rain bands of Tropical Storm Beryl began rotating northward into the Lowcountry. The Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station measured 0.48 inches in a passing shower. The State average temperature for the seven-day period was four degrees above normal. The highest official temperature reported was 95 degrees at McCormick on May 26. The lowest official temperature reported was 52 degrees at Pickens on May 21. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.20 inches at Jamestown ending at 7:00 a.m. on May 23. The State average rainfall for the period was 0.4 inches. SOIL: 4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 78 degrees, Charleston 82 degrees. RIVERS AND SURF: South Carolina river stages were near to below normal. Ocean water temperatures at nearby Johnny Mercer Pier in Wrightsville Beach, NC, were reported at 79 degrees. Precipitation --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Location : Total : Total : Deviation : for Week : for 2012 : from Average --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greer AP : 0.74 14.78 -4.2 Anderson AP : 0.36 12.75 -5.2 Columbia Metro AP : 0.04 12.34 -3.7 Orangeburg AP : 0.00 12.15 -4.8 Charlotte, NC AP : 0.41 15.03 -1.5 Augusta, GA Bush AP : 0.35 9.14 -7.9 Florence AP : 0.98 16.68 1.8 N Myrtle Beach AP : 0.06 10.90 -5.9 Charleston AP : 0.07 11.24 -4.6 Savannah, GA AP : 0.34 14.28 -1.5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly rainfall totals this period ending midnight Sunday.