OMAHA (DTN) -- When it comes to describing the
weather impact in 2024, it isn't one extreme event that stood out to
make No. 6 on DTN's countdown.
"Honestly,
the weather wasn't really all that extreme, ... (but) the impacts from
it were massive in different parts of the country at different times of
the year," noted DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.
"Our
weather pattern was so active that we just kept getting system after
system roll through," he explained. They weren't big outbreaks for the
most part, but it was kind of "nickel-and-dimed" through the season, he
said.
Depending on where you live, you may
have experienced some of the events that stood out. These included
wildfires in the United States and Canada, flooding in the Midwest,
derechos in the Corn Belt and other areas, a late-season flash drought,
and hurricanes that could be both beneficial and very destructive.
But
Baranick stressed that, thanks to a delayed La Nina pattern in 2024, a
lot of the Corn Belt ended up with pretty good weather, "until you got
to the very end, tail end of the season, when we were finishing up fall
(harvest) and just took a couple of bushels off the top. But other than
that, ... it was really good weather for most of the year for planting
all the way to harvest. Harvest weather was great. And you're talking
about the Corn Belt, or outside of Corn Belt to ... honestly,
everywhere."
However, he did add that one
area had a few challenges: "It was in the Southeast where they had weeks
of drought, then weeks of heavy rain, then weeks of drought and then
hurricanes."
LARGEST EVER TEXAS WILDFIRE
From
December 2023 through March was a super El Nino, with limited
precipitation in the dry Western Corn Belt at the start of the year
However,
El Nino-related precipitation increased vegetation growth in the
Southern Plains and provided fuel for a megafire that caught national
attention. The record-breaking Smokehouse Creek Fire in the northeastern
Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma started in late February and
burned more than 1 million acres -- more than 1,500 square miles -- and
became the largest in Texas history and even one of the largest fires in
U.S. history.
Texas
farmers and ranchers shared with DTN how it was the worst fire they saw
in their lifetimes as it affected their pastures, killed thousands of
cattle and other livestock, and destroyed their homes.
Weather
conditions influenced other wildfires to break out in late winter into
spring in United States and Canada, including some evacuations of people
in various communities, and affected air quality in both countries.
By near the end of 2024, more than 13 million acres had burned in Canada and 8.6 million acres in the U.S.
HEAVY RAINS
Spring
saw some heavy rains, such as those in April that triggered floods in
Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and as far south as eastern Texas and
southwest Louisiana. This led to some planting delays.
But
for those farmers in South Dakota, southern Minnesota and northwest
Iowa, June brought heavy rains that hit the crops they already had in
the ground.
"It was in late June, so people had already planted, and it just kind of washed everything out," said Baranick.
Some
areas got 12-18 inches of rain in two days, which caused flooding,
saturated soil and standing water to areas that had moderate to severe
drought a year before.
Asked
what he thought was one of the most influential weather events of the
year on crop production, Baranick pointed to the flooding. "I think it
was probably the flooding in the Midwest, in terms of corn and soybean
production, just because it wiped out very fertile areas of the country.
And it was significant. I mean, driving through there was pretty
remarkable, seeing all the variability in crop development and people
that weren't able to plow anything over ... It was all drowned out. And
then some areas where it was a mix of really, really short yellow corn,
and move 100 yards, and it looks fantastic. And then other areas that,
you know, look amazing. So, I mean the variability in that part of the
country was kind of the worst of it all."
BILLION-DOLLAR WEATHER DISASTERS
But even before those heavy June rains, it was already becoming a costly year for weather disasters.
As
DTN Ag Meteorologist Emeritus Bryce Anderson noted on June 12 in a
blog, "The first five months already stands at 11 $1-billion disasters.
That five-month total is higher than many annual totals since $1 billion
weather and climate disaster tracking began in 1980 ... For more
perspective, the year 2024 already has more $1-billion confirmed weather
and climate disasters than each of the entire years from 1980-1997."
The
billion-dollar events included "two tornado events that affected the
central, southern and eastern U.S. at the end of April and beginning of
May; one severe weather event that hit the central and eastern U.S. at
the end of February; and a derecho event that affected portions of the
South in mid-May."
Baranick noted in a blog in late May how much
the severe weather was ahead of the average pace: "More than 1,000
tornadoes have been reported to the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) as of
May 27. That is more than the 731 that have occurred on average over the
last 15 years," he wrote.
According to the
National Center for Environmental Information, by the end of November,
there was a preliminary report of 1,762 tornadoes in the U.S., "which is
among the highest tornado counts on record for the same
January-November period. Only 2011, 2008 and 2004 have a similar high
count of tornadoes."
HIGH WINDS AND DERECHOS
Many American farmers and ranchers may have noticed a lot more cases than usual of severe wind during the past year.
Baranick
said, in his June blog, "Hail reports are only slightly above average
with 3,142 reports for 2024 compared to 2,790 over the last 15 years.
But wind reports have really skyrocketed during May and are well ahead
of the 15-year average of 4,160 with a total of 5,899. This puts 2024 on
pace for the second-highest severe weather reports over the last 15
years."
Baranick wrote more about the wind
and derechos: "Though the case for the hurricane-force wind gusts may
not make this a true derecho, a line of storms that formed in Oklahoma
and Missouri on April 1 continued through the Ohio Valley on April 2. In
addition to widespread wind damage, more than 100 tornadoes were
reported, though some of these were in storms away from the derecho.
Another derecho developed May 16-17 across Texas and Louisiana that
caused widespread damage in downtown Houston with several reports over
100 miles per hour."
The
heart of the Corn Belt got hit with another derecho -- and also large
hail in places -- in mid-July, from Iowa through northern Illinois,
southern Wisconsin and northern Indiana -- just as crops were entering
the critical stages of silking and setting pods.
However,
the July 2024 derecho was not as destructive to crops as the August
2020 derecho, explained Baranick in one of his blogs, even though it hit
some of the same areas.
In
an interview in late December, Baranick admitted he thought there was
going to be more crop damage. "I was thinking it was going to be a bit
more extensive once the combines started rolling, but those areas ended
up with some pretty good yields," he said. "It pushed over corn, (there
were) some ripped-up leaves on soybeans, for sure, but it was in July
instead of August, so ... the corn crop just righted itself for the most
part." He added the derecho also brought some much-needed rain at the
right time: corn pollination time.
HURRICANES HIT U.S.
2024
stands out for the hurricanes that hit the country. In July, Hurricane
Beryl's remnants brought rain into the Mississippi Valley and the
Eastern Corn Belt. It made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near
Matagorda, Texas.
In August, Hurricane
Debby landed as a Category 1 storm in the Big Bend area of Florida, then
moved up through the Carolinas and East Coast with a massive amount of
rain and flooding, including in southeast Georgia.
September
saw more hurricanes. Early in the month, Hurricane Francine made
landfall in Louisiana as a Category 2 storm, bringing heavy rainfall to
the Southern Delta just as the cotton harvest was around the corner and
soybeans were dropping their leaves. Francine also temporarily affected
Gulf of Mexico exports and the offshore oil and gas industry.
Perhaps
the one that stood out the most, however, was powerful Category 4
Hurricane Helene slamming into Florida's Big Bend region near the end of
September.
"Along with damage in Florida
and Georgia, the storm also devastated western North Carolina and
eastern Tennessee. Some areas of North Carolina saw as much as 29 inches
of rain," reported DTN Ag Policy Editor Chris Clayton, who added that
presidential disaster declarations were already approved for Florida,
North Carolina and Virginia by Sept. 30.
Helene hit hard the livestock industry and crops such as peanuts, cotton and soybeans.
There was widespread damage across the Southeast, with even early estimated damage reports at $15 billion across the region.
The
estimates have continued to rise in the months that followed. In
mid-December, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper released a report that
Hurricane Helene recovery -- for damage and needs -- will cost his state
$59.6 billion.
"The
estimated economic impact of Hurricane Helene on the agricultural
community is $4.9 billion. The direct damage and needs estimate is $4.1
billion, comprising farm infrastructure, machinery, and equipment
damage; crop, forestry, and trout farm losses; stream debris removal and
stabilization needs, agricultural land restoration needs; wildfire risk
response, and mitigation efforts. Livestock, dairy, and poultry
producers experienced significant infrastructure damage but limited
animal losses. There is an estimated additional $783 million in indirect
and induced impacts from crop losses," Cooper's report stated.
Cooper's
report showed it will take time and be challenging in the months ahead
to recover: "Hay land, often in valleys, was destroyed along with stored
hay in these areas. Cattle farmers now face chronic shortages of hay
just as they are beginning the winter feeding season. Beyond the
immediate production losses, for the agricultural community to recover,
significant remediation efforts are needed to restore farmland and
pasture and forestland from the effects of high winds, landslides,
extreme erosion, sediment deposits, and stream redirection."
Unfortunately,
Helene wouldn't be the last of the hurricanes in 2024. It was followed
by Hurricane Isaac, Leslie and Milton in the weeks that followed.
In
fact, NOAA said in a news release Nov. 25 that there were seven
hurricanes that formed since Sept. 25 in the Atlantic Ocean: "The most
on record for this period."
By
the time the Atlantic hurricane season ended at the end of November,
there were 18 named storms, with 11 of them becoming hurricanes and five
were major hurricanes; five of the hurricanes landed in the U.S., with
two as major hurricanes, according to NOAA.
NOAA listed some of the records the hurricanes set:
-- "Hurricane Beryl was the earliest Atlantic basin Category-5 hurricane on record."
--
"Helene was the deadliest hurricane to affect the continental U.S.
since Katrina in 2005, with more than 150 direct fatalities, the
majority of which occurred in North Carolina and South Carolina."
--
"Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category-3 (storm) near Siesta
Key, Florida, on Oct. 9 and resulted in a tornado outbreak that produced
46 tornadoes and caused torrential rainfall and localized flooding with
total rainfall amounts of 10-15 inches (and higher) ... Milton's rate
of rapid intensification was among the highest ever observed, with a
90-mile-per-hour increase in wind speed during the 24-hour period from
early Oct. 6 to early Oct. 7." Milton hit livestock producers and citrus
growers, as well as other crops.
LATE-SEASON FLASH DROUGHT
Grazing
areas, winter wheat, and the final stages of filling in the Corn Belt
were affected by late-season flash drought, Baranick said in his
year-end interview.
"It went dry late
summer and through ... most of August, September and October, out there
in the Plains. So, it was an extended period of dry conditions -- great
for harvest, but not for building forages or planting winter wheat."
He
went on. "Luckily, that was reversed in November, when we got a whole
bunch of rain outside of Nebraska. Nebraska didn't get it, but the
Southwestern Plains -- Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico --
all those areas ended up with some really, really good soil moisture
that kind of turned that (wheat crop) around."
DROUGHT CONTINUES
Baranick said a more active pattern in the fall has helped bring some moisture to the Ohio Valley.
But
some of the areas that had the worst drought in 2024 have unfortunately
not gotten the precipitation they need. This includes Nebraska, the
Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana.
"This core
area of cattle country has not done well with the active pattern," he
said. "A lot of the systems have been kind of going off, either to their
north or to the south, and they've kind of gotten left out in there.
Iowa has been OK. There's still some leftover drought in there, but for
the most part, it's kind of northern Nebraska, and especially
northwestern Nebraska through almost all of Wyoming, much of South
Dakota and western North Dakota into eastern Montana," he said.
"That's
kind of the area that we're kind of watching to be an issue for 2025
because it's not an area that certainly sees a lot of moisture over the
winter or the spring."
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