NDSU Dickinson Research Extension Center

North Dakota State University * Dickinson Research Extension Center
1089 State Avenue, Dickinson, ND 58601-4642 Voice: (701) 483-2348 FAX: (701) 483-2005

Precipitation for January, February, March and April was far below average this year but temperatures were low and other weather conditions were generally favorable, to get small grain crops off to one of the best starts in the past ten years. Rainfall in May and June was average and very adequate for crop growth, and all crops developed well and made excellent progress during this period. Precipitation in July was far below average with only .58 inches being recorded in scattered showers for the entire month. The average July rainfall for the past sixty-eight years is 2.19 inches. The lack of rainfall in July coupled with a period of high temperatures beginning the second week in July, damaged all grain crops and corn and reduced yields and quality of all crops.

Rainfall in August was fair but too late to help small grains and late enough so that the corn crop could not make maximum use of it.

Table 1. Precipitation - 1960
	Jan.	Feb.	Mar.	Apr.	May	June	July	Aug.	Sept.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.
1	.08	T	0	0	0	.02	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	.01	T	.01	0	T	0	.10	0	0	0	.23	0
3	.01	T	T	0	.07	.03	.01	0	0	0	0	0
4	T	0	0	0	.06	.10	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	T	0	.02	0	0	0	.13	.30	T	0	0	T
6	.01	T	T	0	0	0	0	.11	0	0	0	0
7	0	T	.02	0	0	0	0	.36	.01	T	0	0
8	0	0	.03	0	.05	.81	0	T	.11	0	T	T
9	0	T	.05	0	.12	.07	0	.07	0	0	0	0
10	0	0	.14	0	0	.05	0	0	0	T	0	T
11	0	.01	T	0	0	0	.02	0	0	0	0	T
12	0	0	0	0	0	0	T	0	0	0	T	T
13	0	T	0	0	0	.07	T	0	0	0	T	T
14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	T	.01	0
15	0	0	.01	.02	0	0	0	0	.02	0	0	T
16	0	T	T	0	0	1.06	0	.21	0	0	T	T
17	T	.01	T	0	0	.11	.14	T	T	0	.09	T
18	.01	T	.02	0	.01	0	.04	0	T	.02	0	T
19	T	0	T	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.10
20	T	T	0	0	.04	T	0	0	0	0	0	.02
21	T	T	0	T	0	.62	T	0	0	0	0	T
22	T	T	0	T	0	T	.02	0	0	0	0	0
23	0	0	0	T	0	.12	0	.18	0	0	0	.01
24	0	0	T	0	.23	0	.12	0	T	0	0	0
25	0	T	T	.25	.05	0	T	.65	0	0	0	T
26	.01	T	0	.05	.25	0	0	.28	0	0	0	.01
27	T	.10	0	T	0	0	0	T	0	0	0	0
28	0	T	T	.03	.83	0	0	0	0	0	.39	0
29	0	T	.25	T	.52	0	T	0	0	0	T	0
30	0		T	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	0		.03		T		0	0		0		0
Sums	.13	.12	.58	.35	2.23	3.06	.58	2.16	.14	.02	.72	.14
Total Annual Precipitation - 10.23 inches

Table 2. Climatic Data Summary - 1960
Climatic Data	Jan.	Feb.	Mar.	Apr.	May	June	July	Aug.	Sept.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Total	Mean Seasonal
Precipitation
1960 Monthly	.13	.12	.58	.35	2.23	3.06	.58	2.16	.14	.02	.72	.14	10.23	6.22
68 Year Average	.45	.45	.75	1.25	2.20	3.50	2.19	1.77	1.21	.87	.55	.41	15.60	9.15
Mean Temperature - Degrees Farenheit
1960	10.6	14.6	16.3	42.1	52.8	60.2	71.5	68.1	58.8	45.3	28.8	17.0
40-Year Average	10.2	13.2	24.9	41.8	52.2	61.6	68.1	66.2	56.0	43.7	28.1	16.2
Wind Velocity - Miles per Hour
1960						4.5	4.8	4.2	4.0	3.9	3.6
34-Year Average						6.7	6.7	5.6	4.7	4.9	5.2
Last Killing Frost in the Spring				First Killing Frost in the Fall						Frost Free Season
1960 - May 16				1960 - September 17						1960 - 124 days
45 Year Average - May 18				45 Year Aver. - September 15						45 Year Average - 120 days

Table 3. Maximum Air Temperature ^oF - 1960
	June	July	August
1.	82	77	100
2.	74	90	96
3.	71	76	89
4.	68	76	94
5.	61	73	90
6.	68	73	86
7.	72	82	75
8.	86	88	76
9	73	92	67
10.	64	98	80
11.	69	96	84
12.	71	86	89
13.	68	87	92
14.	74	79	78
15.	71	81	78
16.	63	96	92
17.	67	90	90
18.	75	82	82
19.	72	91	85
20.	76	101	90
21.	73	107	96
22.	65	95	86
23.	60	92	107
24.	70	104	71
25.	77	81	85
26.	89	86	65
27.	80	92	80
28.	84	97	74
29.	78	91	75
30.	73	80	86
31.		87	92