sc-crop-weather South Carolina Weekly Weather and Crop Progress Report Released: October 22, 2012 Week Ending Date: October 21, 2012 Issue: SC-CW004312 GENERAL Precipitation for most areas of the State was light during the week allowing producers to continue to harvest crops, and plant small grains. Crop conditions were little changed, and still remained mostly good. South Carolina soils continued to dry out and were rated at 8% very short, 30% short, and 62% adequate. There was a State average of 6.6 days that were suitable for fieldwork. FIELD CROPS CORN harvest has been completed for the year. By the end of the week, COTTON bolls were 90% opened, six points behind last year, and seven behind the five-year average. Twenty-three percent of the crop had been harvested compared with 42% last year, and 38% for the five-year average. Conditions improved minimally once again, and were at 2% poor, 19% fair, 66% good, and 13% excellent. OAT planting was ongoing with 24% of the crop seeded, ahead of 22% last year, and the five-year average of 23%. Favorable weather helped PEANUT digging to continue. Harvest was 71% complete by the end of the week, compared to 54% last year, and 69% for the five-year average. The SOYBEAN crop has set pods. Seventy-two percent of the crop has turned color with 34% having dropped leaves. Harvest was 6% complete. Conditions were little changed at 4% poor, 23% fair, 65% good, and 8% excellent. WINTER GRAZINGS plantings continued at 63% complete with 37% having emerged. WINTER WHEAT seeding also continued with 32% of the crop planted, and 9% emerged. OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST PASTURE conditions declined once again with the drier weather and were 5% poor, 29% fair, 61% good, and 5% excellent. Likewise, LIVESTOCK conditions also declined, and were reported at 2% poor, 19% fair, 75% good, and 4% excellent. Crop Progress for Week Ending October 21, 2012 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop and Stage : 2012 : 2011 :5-Yr Avg :: Crop and Stage : 2012 : 2011 :5-Yr Avg ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent :: : Percent : :: : Corn, Harvested : 100 100 100 :: Soybeans, Leaves Dropped : 34 34 44 Cotton, Bolls Opened : 90 96 97 :: Soybeans, Mature : 20 25 27 Cotton, Harvested : 23 42 38 :: Soybeans, Harvested : 6 10 10 Oats, Planted : 24 22 23 :: Winter Grazings, Planted : 63 54 53 Oats, Emerged : 10 7 7 :: Winter Grazings, Emerged : 37 29 25 Peanuts, Harvested : 71 54 69 :: Winter Wheat, Planted : 32 24 17 Soybeans, Pods Set : 100 100 100 :: Winter Wheat, Emerged : 9 7 7 Soybeans, Turned Color : 72 76 81 :: : ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Condition for Week Ending October 21, 2012 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crop :Very Poor: Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent :: Crop :Very Poor: Poor : Fair : Good : Excellent --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Percent :: : Percent : :: : Cotton : 0 2 19 66 13 :: Peanuts : 0 3 24 62 11 Livestock : 0 2 19 75 4 :: Soybeans : 0 4 23 65 8 Pasture : 0 5 29 61 5 :: : --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Carolina Weekly Weather Summary for the Week Ending October 21, 2012 At noon on Monday, Florence, Sumter, Myrtle Beach and Charleston all reported 79 degrees. A frontal passage during the afternoon hours caused scattered thunderstorms and a report of one-inch diameter hailstones falling over Marion. Mullins received 0.65 inches of rain and Florence received 0.60 inches. The Tuesday morning low temperature at Saluda cooled to 41 degrees. A sunny Barnwell recorded a mild 76 degrees on Tuesday afternoon. The state was divided on Wednesday with clouds over the eastern half and sunshine into the mountains. Warmer air pushed north on Thursday, helping Hartsville, Columbia and Hardeeville to reach 82 degrees. Overnight rains developed in response to the week's second intrusion of colder air. At 3:00 a.m. on Friday morning, Shaw AFB AP reported "heavy rain." Darlington measured one of the more generous 24-hour rainfalls with 0.76 inches. Chesterfield reported 0.61 inches and Cheraw noted 0.48 inches. Ahead of the colder air, the Georgetown AP warmed to 81 degrees. A seasonal chill was observed on Saturday morning. The thermometer at Newberry and Walterboro indicated 43 degrees. Sunny, blue skies allowed for afternoon temperatures in the low to mid 70's. On Sunday, Greenville and Lake City shared a high temperature of 71 degrees. The state average temperature for the period was one degree above normal. The highest official temperature reported was 85 degrees at the Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station on October 15. The lowest official temperature reported was 38 degrees at Pelion on October 16 and at Ninety Nine Islands, Cedar Creek and Pelion on October 20. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 0.87 inches at Dillon ending at 7:00 a.m. on October 16. The state average rainfall for the period was 0.3 inches. SOIL: 4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 68 degrees, Charleston 70 degrees. RIVERS AND SURF: South Carolina river stages were near to below normal. Ocean water temperatures at Springmaid Pier Myrtle Beach were reported at 70 degrees. Precipitation --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Location : Total : Total : Deviation : for Week : for 2012 : from Average --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greer AP : 0.11 32.14 -6.2 Anderson AP : 0.09 33.59 -1.9 Columbia Metro AP : 0.29 37.63 -0.1 Orangeburg AP : 0.44 36.73 -3.0 Charlotte, NC AP : 0.29 29.20 -5.1 Augusta, GA Bush AP : 0.10 30.31 -6.2 Florence AP : 0.95 35.87 -0.5 N Myrtle Beach AP : 0.36 32.59 -11.9 Charleston AP : 0.02 38.04 -6.5 Savannah, GA AP : 0.14 37.82 -4.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly rainfall totals this period ending midnight Sunday.