sc-crop-weather South Carolina Weekly Weather and Crop Progress Report Released: October 9, 2012 Week Ending Date: October 7, 2012 Issue: SC-CW004112 GENERAL The week was much wetter delaying some field work. Conditions remained mostly good for field crops in the State. South Carolina soil moisture was rated at 3% very short, 27% short, and 70% adequate. There was a State average of 6.3 days that were suitable for fieldwork. FIELD CROPS CORN was winding down with 98% completed by the end of the week compared with 99% last year, and 98% for the five-year average. COTTON bolls were 80% opened. Conditions declined minimally, and were at 3% poor, 21% fair, 63% good, and 13% excellent. OATS are being seeded with 6% of the crop planted, on par with last year, and only slightly behind the five-year average of 7%. PEANUT harvest very active and was 44% complete by the end of the week, compared to 29% last year, and 38% for the five-year average. Conditions for the crop were unchanged from the previous week at 3% poor, 22% fair, 63% good and 12% excellent. SOYBEANS have bloomed with ninety-seven percent of the crop having set pods, 2 points behind last year, and the five-year average. Leaves are turning, and harvest has begun. Conditions improved to 3% poor, 22% fair, 64% good, and 11% excellent. Ninety-six percent TOBACCO fields have been disked. WINTER GRAZINGS plantings continued at 41% complete with 17% having emerged. WINTER WHEAT seeding also continued with 19% of the crop planted, and 2% emerged. OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST PASTURE conditions improved from the previous week, and were 3% poor, 18% fair, 74% good, and 5% excellent. LIVESTOCK conditions were reported at 1% poor, 17% fair, 77% good, and 5% excellent. Crop Progress for Week Ending October 7, 2012 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop and Stage : 2012 : 2011 :5-Yr Avg :: Crop and Stage : 2012 : 2011 :5-Yr Avg ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent :: : Percent : :: : Corn, Harvested : 98 99 98 :: Soybeans, Leaves Dropped : 12 14 20 Cotton, Bolls Opened : 80 89 88 :: Soybeans, Mature : 6 8 10 Cotton, Harvested : 6 22 17 :: Soybeans, Harvested : 1 4 3 Oats, Planted : 6 6 7 :: Tobacco, Stalks Destroyed : 96 84 92 Oats, Emerged : 2 1 1 :: Winter Grazings, Planted : 41 42 38 Peanuts, Harvested : 44 29 38 :: Winter Grazings, Emerged : 17 13 8 Soybeans, Bloomed : 100 100 100 :: Winter Wheat, Planted : 19 21 11 Soybeans, Pods Set : 97 99 99 :: Winter Wheat, Emerged : 2 3 1 Soybeans, Turned Color : 41 41 49 :: : ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Condition for Week Ending October 7, 2012 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor: Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent :: Crop :Very Poor: Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent :: : Percent : :: : Cotton : 0 3 21 63 13 :: Peanuts : 0 3 22 63 12 Livestock : 0 1 17 77 5 :: Soybeans : 0 3 22 64 11 Pasture : 0 3 18 74 5 :: : --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Carolina Weekly Weather Summary for the Week Ending October 7, 2012 October began with cloudy, rainy weather for the Upstate. At 1:00 p.m., the Rock Hill AP reported an overcast 61 degrees while a distant Charleston AP reported scattered clouds and 86 degrees. During the darkness of Tuesday morning, thunderstorms formed, bringing heavy rains to the mountains. Jocassee measured 3.64 inches and a CoCoRahs volunteer in Cleveland reported 3.59 inches. Dillon and Bennettsville reached 91 degrees. Afternoon thunderstorms drifted east, leaving 1.14 inches of rain at Kingstree and 0.78 inches at Gallivants Ferry. Sullivan's Island and Jamestown warmed to 88 degrees. Lingering showers on Wednesday continued into Thursday morning. The Columbia AP noted a heavy rain shower on Thursday at 10:56 a.m. Edisto Beach and the Georgetown AP recorded a Thursday high temperature of 86 degrees. A boundary of cooler air made slow progress into the Foothills on Saturday morning but stayed generally along the border with North Carolina. Chesnee, Pickens and West Pelzer cooled to 53 degrees. Sunny weather was observed on Saturday with afternoon temperatures more like late summer. McEntire AP, Kingstree and Bennettsville recorded 88 degrees. Another boundary dropped southeast on Saturday evening with scattered showers and increased cloudiness. Lake Wylie received one of the heavier rains with 0.90 inches. Under mostly cloudy skies and northeast surface winds, the Kings Mountain National Park and Ninety Nine Islands made it to a Sunday high of just 60 degrees. The Georgetown AP held on to another very warm 88-degree afternoon before evening thunder signaled the coming change. The state average temperature for the period was six degrees above normal. The highest official temperature reported was 92 degrees at Pinopolis on October 6. The lowest official temperature reported was 51 degrees at Hunts Bridge on October 5 and at Hunts Bridge and Walhalla on October 6. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 3.81 inches at Caesars Head ending at 7:00 a.m. on October 2. The state average rainfall for the period was 1.0 inches. SOIL: 4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 75 degrees, Charleston 79 degrees. RIVERS AND SURF: South Carolina river stages were near to below normal. Ocean water temperatures at Springmaid Pier Myrtle Beach were reported at 78 degrees. Precipitation --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Location : Total : Total : Deviation : for Week : for 2012 : from Average --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greer AP : 2.31 32.03 -4.7 Anderson AP : 1.90 33.50 -0.6 Columbia Metro AP : 0.68 36.89 0.6 Orangeburg AP : 0.65 35.68 -2.4 Charlotte, NC AP : 0.92 28.91 -3.8 Augusta, GA Bush AP : 1.20 30.15 -4.8 Florence AP : 0.58 34.69 -0.3 N Myrtle Beach AP : 0.53 31.87 -10.8 Charleston AP : 0.03 37.18 -5.6 Savannah, GA AP : 0.67 37.34 -2.7 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly rainfall totals this period ending midnight Sunday.