sc-crop-weather South Carolina Weekly Weather and Crop Progress Report Released: September 4, 2012 Week Ending Date: September 2, 2012 Issue: SC-CW003612 GENERAL Rainfall totals varied widely, but most of the State received ample amounts of moisture this past week. Overall crop conditions have been improving with the consistent levels of precipitation that have been falling recently. South Carolina soil moisture conditions were 2% very short, 10% short, 80% adequate, and 8% surplus. There was a State average of 5.3 days that were suitable for fieldwork. FIELD CROPS CORN has matured with 69% of the harvest completed. COTTON bolls were 94% set, with 21% of the bolls having opened. Conditions were 2% poor, 23% fair, 65% good, and 10% excellent. PEANUTS have finished pegging, with conditions at 2% poor, 25% fair, 59% good and 14% excellent. Eighty-eight percent of SOYBEANS had bloomed, still well behind the five-year average. Sixty-one percent of the crop had set pods, falling to 20 points behind the five year mark. Conditions were at 3% poor, 27% fair, 59% good, and 11% excellent. TOBACCO harvest was 88% complete by the beginning of the week with 63% of the stalks having been destroyed. Ninety-nine percent of HAY had been harvested. OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST The PEACH harvest was finished for this year. PASTURE conditions have been improving each week with the continued rainfall, and were at 2% poor, 19% fair, 70% good, and 5% excellent. Likewise, LIVESTOCK conditions also improved once again, and were 1% poor, 16% fair, 76% good, and 7% excellent. Crop Progress for Week Ending September 2, 2012 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop and Stage : 2012 : 2011 :5-Yr Avg :: Crop and Stage : 2012 : 2011 :5-Yr Avg ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent :: : Percent : :: : Corn, Matured : 100 100 99 :: Peanuts, Pegged : 100 100 100 Corn, Harvested : 69 69 56 :: Soybeans, Bloomed : 88 95 97 Cotton, Bolls Set : 94 96 97 :: Soybeans, Pods Set : 61 77 81 Cotton, Bolls Opened : 21 37 23 :: Soybeans, Turned Color : 3 1 4 Hay, Other Hay, Harvested : 99 100 99 :: Tobacco, Harvested : 88 87 86 Peaches, Harvested : 100 96 94 :: Tobacco, Stalks Destroyed : 63 41 40 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Condition for Week Ending September 2, 2012 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor: Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent :: Crop :Very Poor: Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent :: : Percent : :: : Cotton : 0 2 23 65 10 :: Peanuts : 0 2 25 59 14 Livestock : 0 1 16 76 7 :: Soybeans : 0 3 27 59 11 Pasture : 0 2 19 70 9 :: : --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Carolina Weekly Weather Summary for the Week Ending September 2, 2012 On Monday, the broad circulation of a distant Tropical Storm Isaac, located in the northern Gulf of Mexico, combined with a seabreeze boundary to produce pockets of heavy rain for the coastal plain. McClellanville received 1.72 inches. Flooding rains developed on Tuesday with additional convergence over the same areas. A CoCoRaHS volunteer observer on Daniel Island measured 7.50 inches of rain. The College of Charleston Observatory received 5.07 inches. Streets within the Charleston peninsula were swamped with standing water of up to two feet in depth. The Mount Pleasant Regional AP recorded a torrential 5.01 inches of which 3.79 inches fell in one hour. The elevated concentration of water in the lower atmosphere was responsible for another episode of heavy rain on Wednesday. The Mount Pleasant Regional AP recorded 5.89 inches of rain in one hour and 40 minutes, beginning at 6:15 p.m. and through 7:55 p.m. In less than 48 hours, 11.89 inches of rain fell at Mount Pleasant. The 3.64 inches of rain at Brookgreen Gardens and the 3.51 inches of rain at Georgetown AP caused flooding from Pawley's Island south into the city of Georgetown. A slow moving boundary dropped southward into the state on Thursday helping to diminish the rainfall coverage. Sunny, humid conditions were observed on Friday with afternoon high temperatures in the lower 90's except for Pinopolis with 96 degrees. At the end of August, the 31-day rainfall range included 14.75 inches at Allendale to just 0.53 inches at Gaston Shoals. The Columbia Metro AP's August total of 9.81 inches was their heaviest August rainfall since 1988. Hot weather made another run for the Labor Day Holiday Weekend. Florence, Kingstree and Clinton reported 95 degrees on Saturday and Sullivan's Island, Dillon and Givhans reached 96 degrees on Sunday. The state average temperature for the seven-day period was three degrees above normal. The highest official temperature reported was 97 degrees at Cheraw on September 1. The lowest official temperature reported was 55 degrees at Jocassee on August 28. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 3.82 inches at Charleston City ending at 7:00 a.m. on August 28. The state average rainfall for the period was 1.2 inches. SOIL: 4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 83 degrees, Charleston 84 degrees. RIVERS AND SURF: South Carolina river stages were near normal. Ocean water temperatures at Springmaid Pier Myrtle Beach were reported at 83 degrees. Precipitation --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Location : Total : Total : Deviation : for Week : for 2012 : from Average --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greer AP : 0.38 27.08 -5.7 Anderson AP : 0.30 29.20 -0.6 Columbia Metro AP : 0.63 34.57 2.4 Orangeburg AP : 0.57 31.19 -2.4 Charlotte, NC AP : 0.64 23.81 -5.0 Augusta, GA Bush AP : 2.59 27.17 -4.0 Florence AP : 0.81 30.94 0.2 N Myrtle Beach AP : 0.81 30.47 -5.4 Charleston AP : 3.61 35.13 -1.0 Savannah, GA AP : 2.54 33.81 -0.9 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly rainfall totals this period ending midnight Sunday.