I have in hand the latest weekly edition of the Alabama Weekly Crop and Weather Report issued this afternoon by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Alabama Field Office, Montgomery. Also in house is a lengthy release from the National Weather Service/Huntsville by forecasters Jason Elliott and Allen. Even though Jason spells his last name the same as mine and he also grew up in West Alabama (Fayette), we are not related, but I claim him anyway. He does a great job.
These notes are excerpts from those two sources and others. We will also post a complete list of today’s high temperatures in Alabama later this evening. It was one of our hottest days of the year.
* 49.91 inches is the rainfall deficit for Huntsville since January 1, 2005! That is an absolutely amazing statistic. That is almost 50 inches of rain they did not receive in the last 2 years and 5 months.
* 10.91 inches is the Huntsville rain so far this year–a deficit of 17.63 inches, making it the driest calendar year to date ever recorded. In the last 17 months, since January 2006, their deficit is 32.55 inches.
* D4 is the drought classification for most of the Tennessee Valley and North-Central Alabama, which extends south to include the Birmingham area. D4 is the worst classification and it stands for exceptional drought. There are 5 drough classifications, but they start with zero and go through 4.
* 96% is how much of Alabama has either very short or short soil moisture. 75% is very short and 21% short.
* 4% of Alabama is all that has adequate soil moisture at this time and no place in the state has a surplus.
Let’s look at some specifics from around the state. The Department of Agriculture does an analysis of 34 locations each week listing the week’s rainfall, how many days it rained, the total for the year and percent of normal.
* 8.80 inches is the 2007 total for Gadsden so far. That is only 31% of normal and it is a shortfall of 19.54 inches. If it does rain in Gadsden, their deficiency will reach 20 inches in about 3 days.
* 9.84 inches is the total for Russellville this year–a deficiency of 18.25 inches.
Here are some other figures listing the deficiency only.
* 15.55 inches in Muscle Shoals
* 16.68 Hamilton
* 16.23 Anniston
* 14.32 Sand Mountain
* 16.45 Bridgeport
* 15.74 Guntersville
* 17.71 Talladega
* 18.79 Thorsby
* 18.55 Alabaster
* 17.55 Pinson
* 15.47 Alexander City
* 18.29 Tuscaloosa (Their total for the year only 9.18 inches.)
* 17.19 Jasper
* 17.18 Marion Junction
* 9.48 Bay Minette (The south part of the state is not as bad.)
* 3.84 Brewton
* 13.14 Mobile Airport
* 13.07 Thomasville
* 6.78 Eufaula
* 3.34 Geneva (That station has the least deficit of anyone in the state.)
Other Notes
Overall, the situation has worsened in the last week. Alabama farmers and ranchers continue to experience one of the most severe droughts in the USA this year. Livestock producers have had to make hard decisions as ponds and watering holes dry up and feed and hay supplies get shorter and shorter. Many ranchers have sold their brood cows, others continue to cull older cows to reduce herd size.
Soybean planting, in most of the state, was at a standstill as producers continue to wait for some significant rain. Many producers debated whether to plant at all due to the lateness and lack of moisture.
Cotton and corn also suffering greatly.
