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CFAES Ag Weather System 2021 Near-Surface Air and Soil Temperatures/Moisture

Figure 1: Daily average air temperature (dashed red), two-inch (green) and four-inch (blue) soil temperatures for spring 2021. Current daily average soil temperatures are noted for each location. Soil type and location of measurements (under sod or bare soil) are provided in the lower right corner of each panel. A map of all locations is in the bottom right.  Data provided by The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) Agricultural Research Stations located throughout the state. All sites are reported on Figure 1 as a daily average.

Figure 1 shows that two- and four-inch soil temperatures cooled over the past week in response to a more seasonally average weather pattern. Daily average soil temperatures are now running in the upper-40s to mid-50s across the region. A much colder pattern is expected to move into Ohio mid-week this week, with sub-freezing overnight temperatures and accumulating snow possible, especially across our northern stations. Slightly warmer, but below average conditions, will resume for the upcoming weekend. 

Figure 2 (left) shows that precipitation was light across Ohio this week, below to much below average for the state. The heaviest totals (0.50-1.0”) fell across the southern and northeastern counties (light green). Although precipitation over the last couple of weeks has slowed the progress of drought conditions across northwest Ohio, much of the northern tier of the state remains abnormally dry over the last 30-90 days. The top 40 cm of the soil remains dry relative to historical conditions (red shading in Fig. 2 – right). As a result, the U.S. Drought Monitor continues to depict approximately 16% of the state with Moderate Drought conditions.

Figure 2: (Left) Precipitation estimates for the last 7 days ending on 4/18/2021. Figure provided by the Midwestern Regional Climate Center (https://www.mrcc.illinois.edu). (Right) 0-40 cm Soil Moisture Percentile as of 4/19/2021 according to NASA’s SPORT-LIS (https://weather.msfc.nasa.gov/sport/modeling/lis.html).

For more complete weather records for CFAES research stations, including temperature, precipitation, growing degree days, and other useful weather observations, please visit https://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weather1/.

Crop Observation and Recommendation Network

C.O.R.N. Newsletter is a summary of crop observations, related information, and appropriate recommendations for Ohio crop producers and industry. C.O.R.N. Newsletter is produced by the Ohio State University Extension Agronomy Team, state specialists at The Ohio State University and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). C.O.R.N. Newsletter questions are directed to Extension and OARDC state specialists and associates at Ohio State.