“Absolutely awful planting conditions over Michigan.” Unfortunately, that’s an exact quote from MAT Chief Meteorologist Ryan Martin in this week’s Seed Genetics Direct Planting Weather Forecast.
Martin says those awful planting conditions span this weekend and into the early part of next week.
“We’re looking at very cold air working in here across the state. Now, we’re looking at moisture coming as an off-and-on kind of idea for the Friday, Saturday timeframe. Friday, there’s moisture from the top of The Thumb back down into south central parts of Lower Michigan. Saturday and Sunday we see moisture just kind of rotating through some very slow-moving low pressure.”
He says Saturday temperatures will be mild, but a big cool down will come Sunday.
“During that period, low pressure is going to be sitting right over the top of Michigan. And so, we’re going to be seeing circulating moisture with that low all the way through Sunday afternoon, Monday, and Tuesday. I think in that three-day period, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, we can pick up a combined total of likely half to three quarters of an inch of liquid equivalent, and it’s coming as rain and wet snow.”
Those well below normal air temperatures will keep soil temperatures well below 50° as well.
“So, we’re not getting a seed bed that’s going to be worth anything for planting for probably the first half of next week. We dry down Wednesday, and by the time we get to Thursday and Friday temperatures will try and moderate a little bit. We’re running into another cold air surge for the weekend, the 6th and the 7th. So, we may start to dry down and get fields back fit by the end of next week, but soil temperatures still won’t do us any favors all the way through that first full weekend of May.”
See Martin’s full Seed Genetics Direct Planting Weather Forecast later Friday at MichiganAgToday.com, also brought to you by Greenstone Farm Credit Services.
