sc-crop-weather South Carolina Weekly Weather and Crop Progress Report Released: September 24, 2012 Week Ending Date: September 23, 2012 Issue: SC-CW003912 GENERAL Most of the State received rainfall this past week with amounts varying widely. Areas receiving the most precipitation were the foothills in the Upstate and the Pee Dee region to the east. Crop conditions remained in mostly good condition during the period. There were plenty of warm sunny days to harvest, and prepare land for small grain seeding. Soil moisture conditions for South Carolina were 2% very short, 18% short, and 80% adequate. There was a State average of 6.5 days that were suitable for fieldwork. FIELD CROPS CORN harvest soon will be done for this year. Harvest was at 94% complete compared with 96% last year, and 93% for the five-year average. COTTON bolls were 99% set, with 53% of the bolls having opened. Defoliants have been applied in some areas with harvest beginning for a few early maturing fields. Conditions are generally looking good at 1% very poor, 2% poor, 17% fair, 66% good, and 14% excellent. PEANUTS harvest was progressing well and is now 14% complete, just behind the five-year average. Conditions for the crop were at 3% poor, 16% fair, 70% good and 11% excellent. Ninety-seven percent of SOYBEANS had bloomed. Eighty-six percent of the crop had set pods, 9 points behind last year, and the five-year average. Conditions had improved to 4% poor, 18% fair, 67% good, and 11% excellent. TOBACCO harvest should be complete this week. Eighty-three percent of the stalks have been disked. WINTER GRAZINGS plantings continued at 17% complete. WINTER WHEAT seeding began during the week with 1% of the anticipated crop planted. OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST PASTURE conditions were little changed again this past week and were at 1% poor, 20% fair, 72% good, and 7% excellent. LIVESTOCK conditions improved to 1% poor, 16% fair, 78% good, and 5% excellent. Crop Progress for Week Ending September 23, 2012 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop and Stage : 2012 : 2011 :5-Yr Avg :: Crop and Stage : 2012 : 2011 :5-Yr Avg ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent :: : Percent : :: : Corn, Harvested : 94 96 93 :: Soybeans, Turned Color : 23 18 21 Cotton, Bolls Set : 99 100 100 :: Soybeans, Leaves Dropped : 2 2 7 Cotton, Bolls Opened : 53 80 73 :: Soybeans, Mature : 1 1 2 Cotton, Harvested : 1 8 4 :: Tobacco, Harvested : 99 99 98 Peanuts, Harvested : 14 13 15 :: Tobacco, Stalks Destroyed : 83 69 75 Soybeans, Bloomed : 97 100 100 :: Winter Grazings, Planted : 17 16 19 Soybeans, Pods Set : 86 95 95 :: Winter Wheat, Planted : 1 19 5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Condition for Week Ending September 23, 2012 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor: Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent :: Crop :Very Poor: Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent :: : Percent : :: : Cotton : 1 2 17 66 14 :: Peanuts : 0 3 16 70 11 Livestock : 0 1 16 78 5 :: Soybeans : 0 4 18 67 11 Pasture : 0 1 20 72 7 :: : --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Carolina Weekly Weather Summary for the Week Ending September 23, 2012 Intense rains on Monday morning produced flash flooding over Lancaster County that caused delays and detours to automobile traffic. A Lancaster CoCoRaHS volunteer measured 5.89 inches of rain. Fishing Creek Dam reported 2.18 inches. Afternoon storms formed over the Upstate with more heavy rain. Caesars Head measured 2.04 inches and the Rock Hill AP received 1.92 inches. The mercury thermometer reached 90 degrees at Cades, Pinopolis and Jamestown. Rain and thundershowers paraded over eastern South Carolina on Tuesday. Slow- moving downpours affected Horry County. The Crabtree Swamp gage near Conway recorded 2.93 inches. A boundary of clouds and cooler air worked southeastward on Wednesday. At 2:00 p.m., the Florence AP reported 71 degrees and northeast winds of 16 mph. Greenville, Sandhill and the Springmaid Pier at Myrtle Beach, all noted a Wednesday high temperature of 77 degrees. Thursday started with sunrise temperatures in the 50's. Dillon cooled to 52 degrees. A shift to warmer surface winds occurred on Friday. The first day of autumn arrived on Saturday but summertime temperatures were holding out. Barnwell, Hardeeville, Givhans and the Kingstree AP all reached 90 degrees. A dry cold front replaced the warmth and humidity on Saturday night, bringing a noticeable change of seasons. On Sunday morning, several Upstate communities recorded temperatures in the 40's. Mild, sunny weather was observed on Sunday. Sandy Springs, Greenwood, Marion and Batesburg made it to 80 degrees. The state average temperature for the period was one degree above normal. The highest official temperature reported was 91 degrees at Givhans on September 17. The lowest official temperature reported was 48 degrees at Table Rock, Hunts Bridge, Walhalla and Long Creek on September 23. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 3.96 inches at Conway ending at 7:00 a.m. on September 19. The state average rainfall for the period was 0.6 inches. SOIL: 4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 78 degrees, Charleston 80 degrees. RIVERS AND SURF: South Carolina river stages were near to below normal. Ocean water temperatures at Springmaid Pier Myrtle Beach were reported at 79 degrees. Precipitation --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Location : Total : Total : Deviation : for Week : for 2012 : from Average --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greer AP : 0.92 29.65 -5.5 Anderson AP : 0.64 31.14 -1.4 Columbia Metro AP : 0.82 35.90 1.2 Orangeburg AP : 0.02 34.43 -1.8 Charlotte, NC AP : 0.94 27.38 -3.7 Augusta, GA Bush AP : 0.40 28.12 -5.2 Florence AP : 0.34 33.55 0.2 N Myrtle Beach AP : 0.85 31.32 -9.0 Charleston AP : 0.15 36.23 -4.3 Savannah, GA AP : 0.00 35.21 -2.8 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly rainfall totals this period ending midnight Sunday.