Weather Websites for Crop Producers

April 13, 2022 9:08 AM
Blog Post

It is the time of year when forecasts become a bigger concern for Iowa crop producers. Nearly everyone has their favorite choice for getting their weather information. In this article we will be sharing weather sites we use when discussing weather issues with our crop production clients.

4” Soil Temperature – Fifty degrees is often quoted as the temperature that is needed to begin germination and growth of corn. The Recent Soil 4 Inch Soil Temperature website, a part of the ISU Soil Moisture Network,  shows maps that are based on National Weather Service North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model analyses and short term forecasts. The ISU Soil Moisture Network observations are used to bias correct the model output after some quality control checks are made. This network site also allows you to see soil temperatures at 12, 24 and 50 inches at selected Iowa sites.

Precipitation Data: It seems everyone has their favorite app for following rainfall and storm systems.  A publicly available network, called “CoCoRaHS,” the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, has rainfall data searchable by site and date. It can be found here  https://cocorahs.org/.  The National Weather Service also has a “Current 1-day Observed Precipitation Map.”  You can even find an NWS page with a National Snow Cover Analysis.

If you work with corn growers over a wide region, it is useful to monitor the rainfall, growing degree day and stress degree day accumulations, plus solar radiation differences in that region and compare them to long term averages. This is called the “IEM Climodat Station Monitor,” another part of the Iowa Mesonet network. This link provides an example of 8 NW Iowa weather stations’ information from the 2021 growing season. The chart can be tailored to your own selection of weather stations, plus any range of dates you choose to examine.

Wind Speed & Direction Forecasts: A good web site for weather forecasts on wind speed and direction is the National Weather Service (NWS). Go to: https://www.weather.gov/. Enter your zip code in the upper left hand search box. When the forecast page for your location comes up, page way down and click on the box titled “Tabular Forecast,” or use the “Hourly Weather Forecast”. Both give hourly wind speed, direction, and temperature forecasts for the next 6 days (2 days to a page). Choose the format you prefer!

An hourly Tabular Weather Forecast example from NWS

An hourly Weather Forecast example from NWS

If you need to find a history of wind speed and direction, the Iowa ASOS stations, found at airports, can help. Select a station from the drop-down list, and when that page comes up, click on the “Observation History” tab for data in five-minute intervals. Then select the date or dates you are interested in. Additional data that will be supplied includes temperature, pressure, humidity, snow depth, and precipitation.

Soil Moisture: The ISU Soil Moisture Network has several locations around Iowa that monitor temperatures and moisture levels at 12, 24 and 50 inches below the soil surface, under a growing crop. It can be useful to plot a time series. I’d suggest selecting a site near you, the time range you want to watch, then “make plot.”

Nationally, NASA has a national website, found here, that estimates volumetric and relative soil moistures for different depths. The NWS Climate Prediction Center also posts their Soil Moisture Percentile Data at https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/Drought/Monitoring/smp.shtml.

Outlooks: Find the NOAA Climate Prediction Center outlooks at https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/. If you watch the status of El Nino/La Nina, that outlook can be found here. Finally, the Midwest Climate Hub, a part of the USDA, offers regional agricultural outlooks and weather analysis. Find those at https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/midwest/climate-outlooks , or sign up for future webinars at this site.

Climatology Bureau – IDALS: Weather reports for the state of Iowa, weekly, annually, or historic, can be found on this website. Watch the video at the bottom to get to know our state Climatologist, Justin Glisan, a little better.


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