NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
November 10, 1999
Rainfall during late September and October, usually important to replenish soil water consumed by the year's crop, was almost nonexistent across most of North Dakota this fall. However, says John Enz, agricultural climatologist in the soil science department at North Dakota State University, rainfall was so plentiful in the state this year that it supplied most of the crop demand and little stored soil water was consumed.
"Stored soil water is still plentiful in all but some western regions, despite the low October rainfall," Enz says. "There are no areas that are critically dry, and statewide stored soil water should be adequate next spring."
Wet conditions during the 1998 growing season followed by heavy rains in October left soil, wetlands and depressions all full of water, so spring snowmelt ran off. April was warm and dry in most areas, but just as the 1999 planting season started, the record-breaking rains of May began.
May rainfall was above normal almost everywhere in North Dakota, but the central third of the state was the wettest. Six to over 11 inches of rain in the Belcourt area was 250 to nearly 500 percent of normal. Record rainfall totals were reported in the northern counties, as well as across Burleigh, Kidder and part of Stutsman and Emmons counties. The western and eastern thirds of the state received amounts ranging from 3 to 6 inches, 100 to 250 percent of normal.
June rainfall was near normal, but with typical summer variation. For example, Granville reported 6.75 inches for the month while nearby Minot reported only 1.28 inches. Granville also had record rainfall in May.
A wide swath of North Dakota extending from southwest to northeast received below normal rainfall in July, with southwest and west central regions reporting only 25 to 45 percent of normal. Most of northern North Dakota received above normal rainfall, unfortunately including Granville and other locations that received record amounts in May. The Devils Lake watershed and southeastern North Dakota were also wet.
The northwest, northeast and east central regions remained dry in August, but the rest of the state had well above normal rainfall. Central North Dakota was the wettest with 5 to 9 inches, or 200 to 400 percent of normal. Wilton reported 9.29 inches, the most recorded at that location in the past 52 years. The Bismarck August rainfall of 7.91 inches ranked the second highest August total out of 122 years of records, behind the 1998 total of 9.29 inches. These two Augusts also produced the two greatest one-day precipitation amounts ever recorded in Bismarck, 4.48 inches on Aug. 12, 1999, and 4.63 inches on Aug. 21, 1998.
In September, record-setting rainfall continued in southeastern North Dakota. Amounts at Fargo and Oakes were the greatest on record for September. Most of this precipitation fell during the first three days of the month.
Total growing season rainfall for 1999 was highly variable, ranging from 10 to more than 27 inches. Even the driest regions in the extreme west and southwest were near normal with 10- to 12-inch rainfall totals for the season. The central third of the state was the wettest, receiving 18 to 27 inches of rain.
Timing of rainfall was nearly as important as the amounts. Wet conditions in May and June delayed or prevented normal planting across the entire northern tier of counties and in other areas in central and eastern North Dakota. In other areas wet conditions occurred after most crops had been planted. Timing also caused two distinct growing seasons--crops planted in April and early May before the heavy rains, and those planted six to 10 weeks later in June and early July.
###
Source: John Enz (701) 231-8576
Editor: Gary Moran (701) 231-7865
Total Rainfall (inch), April-September 1999
Click here for a pdf version of this graphic. (63KB b&w map)
Percent of Normal Rainfall, April-September 1999
Click here for a pdf version of this graphic. (54KB b&w map)