Oakes Irrigation Research Site
Carrington Research Extension Center * North Dakota State University
P.O. Box 531, Oakes, ND 58474-0531, Phone: (701) 742-2744, FAX: (701) 742-2700, E-mail:					Blaine.Schatz@ndsu.edu
					Leonard.Besemann@ndsu.edu
WEATHER AND IRRIGATION 2013
Table 1. Precipitation and temperature
Table 2. Growing degree units
Table 3. Dates of last and first frosts
Table 4. Irrigation water applied

	The winter of 2012 - 2013 began warmer-than-average with little snowfall until February. February, March and April saw greater snowfall amounts with a late snowstorm April 14-15 depositing about 20 inches of snow. No record low temperatures were recorded but were consistently five to ten degrees below the average temperatures for much of March and April which made spring planting later than average. The last frost in the spring was on May 18. The average monthly temperature for April was 11 degrees below the long-term average and October was three degrees below the long-term average. May through August, the temperature was near average while September was five degrees above the long-term average. The maximum temperature equaled or exceeded 90°F nineteen times; once in May, twice in June, three times in July, ten times in August and three times in September. The highest temperature was 97°F on August 20. Precipitation was below average in April and near average in May. June, September and October had above-normal precipitation with June recording 9.27 inches, which was double the long-term average. The mean daily temperatures were above average in August and September; near average in May, June, July and below average in April and October. The first frost was October 13 with the first hard frost (≤ 28°F) October 16. All crops reached maturity before frost. Growing degree units in 2013 were above average.

Table 1. Precipitation and temperature at the Oakes Irrigation Research Site.
	Precipitation			Average daily temperatures
Month	2013	15-year average	25-year average	2013	15-year average	25-year average
	-------------------------- inches ------------------------			--------------------------°F --------------------------

April	0.83	1.53	1.63	33	44	44
May	3.37	3.29	2.99	57	56	57
June	9.27	4.68	4.18	67	66	66
July	0.91	3.02	3.25	71	72	71
August	0.41	2.25	2.15	71	69	69
September	5.04	3.08	2.85	65	60	60
October	4.87	1.98	2.13	43	46	46


Table 2. Growing degree units¹ at the Oakes Irrigation Research Site.
Month	2013	10-year average	15-year average	25-year average

May	318	300	298	309
June	518	499	498	497
July	654	661	662	633
August	626	572	584	583
September	446	378	371	371

	2561	2410	2413	2394
¹Growing degree units = (Temp_max + Temp_min)/2 - 50. If Temp_max is greater than 86, then
Temp_max = 86. If Temp_min is less than 50, then Temp_min = 50. Temperature is in degrees F.


Table 3. Dates of last and first frosts.
		2013	10-year average	15-year average	25-year average
Last frost in spring
	32 °F or less	18-May	6-May	2-May	4-May
	28 °F or less	18-May	26-Apr	26-Apr	27-Apr
First frost in fall
	32 °F or less	13-Oct	5-Oct	3-Oct	30-Sep
	28 °F or less	16-Oct	11-Oct	8-Oct	6-Oct
Frost free period (days)		148	154	155	150


Table 4. Irrigation water applied, 2013.
Study	Irrigation water applied
	inches
Dry edible bean trials
Misc and navy bean	9.8
Pinto bean	9.7
Energy sugarbeet variety trial	12.8
Field corn hybrid performance trial	13.4
Field corn studies
Fortix	13.7
KTS	13.4
Mosaic	13.4
Stoller	13.4
Onion hybrid performance trial	13.4
Onion weed control study	13.3
Optimum corn stover removal for biofuel
corn on corn	13.9
corn on soybean	13.9
soybean on corn	13.9
Potato trials	13.3
Soybean variety performance trials
conventional	12.2
Roundup ready®	12.2
Stoller soybean	12.2
Strip-till
corn on soybean	13.4
soybean on corn	12.1
corn on corn	14.0
Sunflower variety head rot study*	2.8
Sunflower head rot fungicide timing*	2.5
*Received additional irrigation via the misting system

2013 Annual Report	Home Page

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