Crop Insurance Today Second Quarter 2022 - 6

Winter 2020-2021
The winter of 2020-2021 was relatively mild
despite the country experiencing the coldest
February in 32 years. The sudden arctic blast in
February had the potential to damage winter
wheat in the Plains where snow cover was limited.
The most affected area from the record low
temperatures was southern Texas, where citrus
and winter vegetables experienced severe damage.
Sugarcane producers in Texas and Louisiana
also expressed concerns about the potential negative
effects on yields in the coming season. In
addition, power outages exacerbated cold related
affects in the form disruptions in water supply
from broken and frozen pipes. These impacts
were especially noticeable in ornamentals and
nursery stock where lack of electrical power limited
the use of freeze-mitigation activities. Overall,
except for the south-central United States,
most of the country experienced above normal
temperatures, especially in northern New England
(Figure 1).
The warmer winter was accompanied by continuing
widespread drought. From December to
February, drought coverage hovered in the 45 to
47 percent level across the United States. Statewide
above average precipitation for the Winter was
Figure 2
Spring 2021 (Mar-May): Statewide Precipitation and Temperature Ranks, 1895-2021
Statewide Precipitation Ranks
March-May 2021
Period 1895-2021
2
17
2
2
30
23
15
4
20
97
111
44
107
90
124
97
103
65
95
17
114
105
57
116
29
National Centers for
Environmental
Information
Fri Jun 4, 2021
35
104
14
37
45
10
42
74
45
34
32
17
12
40
25
56
50
48
42
94
30
114
122
98
114
115
82
90
121
74
71
69
74
109 107
108
125
National Centers for
Environmental
Information
Thu Jun 4, 2020
20
26
18
61
64
98
94
96
75
76
67
75
85
77
88
91
102
72
87
61
79
87
89
89
96
93
101
102
97
96
Statewide Average Temperature Ranks
March-May 2021
Period 1895-2021
99
94
98
103
limited to Washington and mid-Atlantic seaboard
states (Figure 1). Some improvement did occur resulting
from late-winter precipitation in the Northwest
extending to the central Rockies. Meanwhile,
heavy rainfall in the Kentucky River basin caused
major flooding in that area. Minor flooding also
occurred in an area from northeastern Texas to the
central Appalachians and Ohio Valley.
Perhaps as a foreshadowing of things to
come as we confront the possibility of enhanced
weather variability, an event of note occurred
during the beginning of the winter. An unusual
and historic December derecho, classified as
a serial derecho-a windstorm associated with
an unusually strong and fast-moving line of
thunderstorms-moved across the Southwest to
the Upper Midwest on December 15, 2021. The
storm generated at least 55mph hurricane-force
wind gusts (exceeding 75 miles per hour),1
breaking
the previous one-day record (since tracking
began in 2004). All previous records were set
during the summer months. This event was the
first of its kind ever to be recorded in December
in the United States. While much less powerful
in comparison to the 140 mph winds recorded in
the August 2020 derecho, the storms resulted in
severe damage, particularly with structural damage
to homes and outbuildings.
Spring 2021
March brought the beginning of spring with
warming temperatures replacing the chill of the
February cold snap (Figure 2). Cooler than normal
weather was limited to the area west of the
Rockies with above normal temperatures prevailing
in the central and eastern U.S. Rainfall
helped improve drought conditions in the central
U.S. with overall drought coverage falling from
around 47 percent to 44 percent by the end of
March. However, drought conditions continued
to get worse in some areas of the northern Plains
and parts of Texas. The Southeast dealt with severe
weather resulting in flooding early in March
across Kentucky and central Tennessee. In addition,
the area experienced a reported 175 tornadoes,
the highest number in March since 2012
when 225 occurred.
The weather in April, while less severe than
March, had some surprises. A pair of cold snaps
raised concerns for some crops. In the Southeast,
freeze had negative impacts for fruits and ornamentals
and, later in April, widespread freeze
raised possible problems for winter wheat in the
Plains, Midwest, and parts of the mid-South. The
cold weather helped keep temperatures at or near
below-normal levels for the month. At the same
Record
Driest
(1)
Much
Below
Average
Below
Average
Source: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and-precep/us-maps
1 The 2020 derecho was a progressive derecho, while a third type derecho, a hybrid, has not yet been observed since the Southern Great Lakes derecho of 1998. To read a bit more:
https://khak.com/december-15-iowa-storms-were-serial-derecho-different-from-2020/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral ; https://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/
AbtDerechos/casepages/may30-311998page.htm
6 SECONDQUARTER2022
Near
Average
Above
Average
Much
Above
Average
Record
Wettest
(127)
Record
Coldest
(1)
Much
Below
Average
Below
Average
Near
Average
Above
Average
Much
Above
Average
Record
Warmest
(126)

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and-precep/us-maps https://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/casepages/may30-311998page.htm https://www.khak.com/december-15-iowa-storms-were-serial-derecho-different-from-2020/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral https://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/casepages/may30-311998page.htm

Crop Insurance Today Second Quarter 2022

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