Hottest May since 1997 caps warm spring weather

With the start of harvest just a week away in southern Whitman County, farmers are looking at the finish of one of the driest growing seasons in recent memory.

According to the National Weather Service in Spokane, May’s rainfall was more than a half inch below normal at .97. Normal rainfall is 1.56 inches. June was not much better, with not even an inch of rain falling, at .93, with 1.208 as normal precipitation. Last June Whitman County had 1.81 inches of rain.

A McGregor employee from LaCrosse said harvest hasn’t started yet, but he expects farmers close to Central Ferry and south of Hooper to be in combines by next week.

He said he’s noticed it’s been drier this year than in the last five years.

He also said crop conditions vary depending on which side of a hill the crop is on. On the north hill sides, winter damage has hurt crops while on the south sides, because of lack of moisture, crops are burning up. He said they won’t be able to tell about yields until the crops get in the bin.

In 2011, the state lived through one of the coolest early growing seasons on record, only to see one of the warmest in recent memory in 2014, according to WSU AgWeatherNet meteorologists.

The temperature difference was particularly striking in May.

“Prosser’s mean May high temperature was eight degrees warmer in 2014 than in 2011,” said AgWeatherNet meteorologist Nic Loyd who is based in Prosser but keeps track of weather across the state.

The high temperature at Green Bluff on March 1 was 19 degrees during a late season cold outbreak.

Several additional heat waves followed later in May, making it the hottest May since 1997.