Editor’s note: To allow our readers to best view the new format of the Ag-Climate Update, the eUpdate will only feature a short summary each month. The entire 2-page Ag-Climate Update will be posted with much better resolution on the Kansas Climate webpage at http://climate.k-state.edu/ag/updates/. Previous Ag-Climate updates will also be accessible from this same link.
Every month the update includes a brief summary of that month, agronomic impacts, relevant maps and graphs, 1-month temperature and precipitation outlooks, monthly extremes, and notable highlights. The Ag-Climate Update is a joint effort between our climate and extension specialists.
May 2019 – It is not wet but flooded!
At the state level, May 2019 sets the record not only for the wettest May since 1895, but also the wettest month ever for Kansas. State-wide average precipitation for the month was 10.26 inches, 246 % of normal. All divisions averaged above normal for May. State-wide average temperature for the month was roughly 60 degrees F, 3 degrees cooler than normal. This ranks as the 14th coolest on record. The hot spot in both temperature departures and GDD is at Marion Reservoir, where a record warm low temperature for May was set.
The cooler and wetter conditions have left wheat about 1 to 3 weeks behind normal depending on sowing date (see accompanying eUpdate article in this issue for more details). Many wheat fields in the central and south-central portions of the state have drowned out and died due to excessive moisture. By June 2, 79 % of corn had been planted state-wide, and 60 % was emerged. Soybean planting was just 26 % completed. Root zone soil moisture conditions continued wet across Kansas.
View the entire May Ag-Climate Summary at http://climate.k-state.edu/ag/updates/