CFAES Ag Weather System 2022 Near-Surface Air and Soil Temperatures/Moisture (Update 5)

After last weekend’s summer preview, temperatures were much cooler over Ohio for much of the past week. Central and northern Ohio locations saw air temperatures drop below freezing mid-week, before a return to normal conditions over the weekend. Soil temperatures responded similarly, with two- and four-inch temperatures dropping back into the upper 40s to mid-50s before rebounding back into the mid to upper 50s toward the end of the weekend (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Daily average air temperature (dashed red), two-inch (green) and four-inch (blue) soil temperatures for spring 2022. 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.

Figure 2: (Left) Percent of normal precipitation for April 19 – May 2, 2022. Figure provided by the Midwestern Regional Climate Center. (Right) Calculated soil moisture percentiles as of 05/01/2022 according to the Climate Prediction Center.

Figure 2 (left) shows that precipitation over the last two weeks has been below average for most of Ohio, despite the frequent light rain showers. The driest areas have been across central and southwest Ohio. This has provided soils a good opportunity to dry out with decent conditions noted across much of the state (Fig. 2- right). However, the forecast calls for several rounds of showers and storms this week. The Weather Prediction Center is calling for just under 1” to 2” of rain over the next 7 days.

The May 2^nd  Ohio Crop Progress Report (https://go.osu.edu/cropprogress) should show limited planting occurred for the week ending April 29^th. These April planted fields will be closely watched for emergence. Germination progress is soil temperature and moisture-related. The temperature relationship is reasonably predictable for corn, requiring 100 to 120 growing degree days (GDDs) to emerge. We refer you to a 2021 CORN for more on calendar vs. GDD for corn emergence at https://go.osu.edu/cornemergence. Table 1 below shows accumulated GDD at CFAES weather stations since April 23rd, when fieldwork broadly began across the state. 2-inch soil temperatures from the CFAES network are used to generate GDD.

Table 1. GDD Accumulation at CFAES weather Stations based on 2-inch soil temperatures since April 23rd

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/.