CFAES Ag Weather System 2022 Near-Surface Air and Soil Temperatures/Moisture (Update 6)

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.

Overall, the past week was on the cool side for the first week of May, with air temperatures averaging in 60s for highs and lows in the mid-40s to low-50s. This kept soil temperatures steady, ranging from the low to mid-50s across the north, to the upper 50s across southern Ohio (Figure 1). Much warmer weather this upcoming week, with several days in the upper 70s to mid-80s, should cause a significant rise in soil temperatures.      

Figure 2: (Left) Total precipitation for the week ending May 9, 2022. Figure provided by the Midwestern Regional Climate Center. (Right) Calculated soil moisture percentiles as of 05/08/2022 according to the Climate Prediction Center.

Along with the cool temperatures came plenty of rainfall across the Buckeye State (Fig. 2 -left). Locations along I-71 between Cincinnati to Columbus then east to Jefferson County picked up between 2.5-4”. Isolated amounts of 6-7” were reported in parts of Clinton and Fayette Counties. While soil moisture had improved in late April over early season surplus conditions, last week’s rainfall has many fields across Ohio saturated with widespread ponding conditions. Soil moisture percentiles are now ranked in the 80-90^th percentile across the state (Fig. 2-right). Portions of the far south, northeast, and northwest avoided the heaviest rain and may take advantage of this week’s dryness. Saturated areas will take a while to dry, and with temperatures in the mid to upper 80s possible across the southern counties this week, soil crusting may be an issue for some. The Weather Prediction Center is calling for 0.25-0.50” of rain of the next 7 days, the majority of this not falling until Sunday.  

The May 2^nd  Ohio Crop Progress Report (https://go.osu.edu/cropprogress) did show limited planting occurred for the week ending April 29^th with 3% of corn and 2% of soybeans were planted. The report released on May 9^th will show further progress. The 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. Based on the earliest planting dates we should be seeing corn emergence in the southern part of the state.

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/.