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Weekly Nebraska Soil Moisture Report - July 11, 2011
Author: Eric Hunt - University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Published: 2011-07-11 22:08:44
Updated: 2013-06-26 15:46:00
The High Plains Regional Climate Center is now featuring a weekly Nebraska Soil Moisture Index map. For the next month or two, the HPRCC will feature a weekly Nebraska soil moisture report and map on the front page of the website, before moving it to a permanent location on the AWDN Soil Moisture page. If you have any comments or questions about the SMI, please use the contact us page.
"The Soil Moisture Index (SMI) is an index applied to the volumetric water content at the depths of 10, 25, and 50 cm. It is averaged over those three depths and scaled such that 5.0 represents field capacity and -5.0 represents the wilting point. Measurements are made under grass covered, rain fed conditions and may not be representative of soil moisture conditions in fields with standard row crops." To learn more about the SMI, click here.
Nebraska Weekly Soil Moisture Report - July 11, 2011
Precipitation last week occurred in many of the same places as the week before, with much of the southern third of the state receiving an inch or more. The SMI is generally between 2.0 and 4.0 in areas that did receive significant precipitation. Some places in the state have been pretty dry the past few weeks, particularly in the northeastern corner, but only a few sites (Elgin, Ord, Brule North Table, Monroe, Merna, and Alliance North) have SMI’s below 0.0. The good news is that most of the state should receive some precipitation this week and with the ridge in the south-central states building north, the heaviest rain will likely fall in areas that need it most. The bad news is any excessive rainfall could cause rivers (i.e., the Missouri) to swell more than they already are. The other item of bad news is that temperatures of 95-100ºF should engulf most of the state by the end of the week and into next weekend. The timing of this heat will be particularly bad for crops in areas without sufficient soil moisture, especially if said areas have a large percentage of corn going into the tasseling stage.