Volume 10 Issue 4
Each year offers different growing conditions and 2021 has started off looking very different than those in the past. Below are a couple of key metrics that has started the growing season off on a different foot.
Temperature
2021 has started off to be much cooler than the timeframe between 2009-2020. Using Growing Degree Days (GDD) we can see how quickly heat units have accumulated over time. For the three AgWeatherNet stations that have been present since 2009, GDD were 54% (Lawrence), 59% (Nooksack), and 70% (Ten Mile) lower in 2021 than for the same dates when averaged across 2009-2020. This trend can quickly reverse with a long stretch of above average temperatures like we have seen the past few days.
Precipitation
For 2021, the Ten Mile station has consistently reported below the three-year average (2018-2020). Most recently it has reported more than three times less precipitation when compared to the three year average. Through mid-March the Nooksack and Lawrence stations were reporting above average precipitation, but since then have essentially leveled off. As of 4/17/21, these stations are on track to be much lower than the three-year average as we enter into the warmer, drier months of the growing season.
