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Second Quarter Weather Recap: 2020, How Does It Compare?

The weather has seemed cooler and wetter than previous years, but how does 2020 actually compare so far to recent years? This is a summary of weather data since January 1, 2020 until July 12, 2020.

Growing Degree Days

Growing degree days (GDD) is one metric to consider when looking at air temperature comparison across years. GDD calculates cumulative values based on a specific temperature threshold (in this case base 50F) and is used to predict crop and pest development.

Here are some highlights:

  • As of 7/12/2020 the County accumulated just 37% of the average GDD between 2009-2019.
  • Accumulated GDD between 4/15/20 and 5/15/20 accounted for 40% of the total GDD to date. Between 2009-2019, April accounted, on average, for only 15% of accumulated GDD by 7/12.  

Impacts

  • The lack of GDD slowed crop development particularly early-season fruit and vegetables and lowered brix levels in fruit levels.
  • The slow GDD accumulation should technically slow arthropod development especially as we enter into red raspberry harvest; although in some cases this has not been true in part because of the warm weather in April and the particular life cycle of the arthropod.  

Monthly Summary of Accumulated Growing Degree Days, by Year and for July, by Year. Source, WSU AgWeatherNet 

Station Lawrence Lynden Lynden N Lynden NE Nooksack Ten Mile Van Zandt County Average 2020 County Average 2009-2019
Date Accumulated Growing Degree Days (base 50F)
1/15/2020 2.5 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.6 2.6 1.3 1.0
2/15/2020 2.6 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.6 4.1 1.7 4.8
3/15/2020 2.6 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.6 4.1 1.7 8.8
4/15/2020 6.6 3.0 0.8 3.7 1.8 3.6 5.1 3.5 29.8
5/15/2020 151.3 152.5 123.3 152.4 169.1 127.1 107.6 140.5 139.3
6/15/2020 367.0 355.0 293.0 343.0 398.0 336.0 271.0 337.6 381.0
7/12/2020 349.0 338.0 378.0 328.0 380.0 317.0 259.0 335.6 721.8

 

Growing Degree Days (Base 50F), 2009 – 2020, Lawrence Weather Station. Source, WSU AgWeatherNet Click on Image for a larger version

Growing Degree Days (Base 50F), 2009 – 2020, Lynden Weather Station. Source, WSU AgWeatherNet Click on Image for a larger version

Growing Degree Days (Base 50F), 2009 – 2020, Nooksack Weather Station. Source, WSU AgWeatherNet Click on Image for a larger version

Growing Degree Days (Base 50F), 2009 – 2020, Ten Mile Weather Station. Source, WSU AgWeatherNet Click on Image for a larger version

Rainfall

Highlights:

  • Average cumulative rainfall for the county was up 12% compared to 2008-2019.
  • Individual weather stations cumulative rainfall were the following:
Lawrence Lynden Nooksack Ten Mile
2020 23.68 19.69 22.81 18.65
2008-2019 Ave. 20.52 17.89 16.69 19.83
% Difference 15% 10% 37% -6%

 

Impacts

  • Plant diseases are elevated in almost all crops within the County
  • Field access has been an issue and led to tractors being driven fields under sub-optimal, wet conditions that will likely lead to compaction issues. 

Daily Precipitation (2020), Cumulative Precipitation (2020), and Average Cumulative Precipitation (2008-2020), Lawrence Weather Station. Source, WSU AgWeatherNet .  Click on Image for a larger version

Daily Precipitation (2020), Cumulative Precipitation (2020), and Average Cumulative Precipitation (2008-2020), Lynden Weather Station. Source, WSU AgWeatherNet Click on Image for a larger version

Daily Precipitation (2020), Cumulative Precipitation (2020), and Average Cumulative Precipitation (2008-2020), Nooksack Weather Station. Source, WSU AgWeatherNet Click on Image for a larger version

Daily Precipitation (2020), Cumulative Precipitation (2020), and Average Cumulative Precipitation (2008-2020), Ten Mile Weather Station. Source, WSU AgWeatherNet Click on Image for a larger version