Wintry weather assails U.S.; China, Mexico dry
WASHINGTON, D.C. Severe
storms across the United States
brought a mix of snow, heavy
rams, high winds and tornadoes to
many areas, during the first week
m April according to a weekly
report issued by the Joint
Agricultural Weather Facility of
the U.S. Departments of Com
merce and Agriculture.
Dryness in China and Mexico
posed further crop threats, while
needed precipitation benefited
crops in Spam and northwestern
Africa. Showers interfered with
harvest activity in some parts of
South America.
Highlights of the report follow.
—United States. Heavy ram,
with snow at higher elevations, fell
m the West. An intense storm late
m the week developed over the
central Great Plains, producing
locally severe weather along its
path. Heavy rams, hail, high winds
and tornadoes accompanied the
cold front stretching from Min
nesota to eastern-Texas as it
moved east from the Mississippi
Valley to the Appalachians.
Temperatures were above
average in the central regions and
below average m the northern
Great Plains and the West.
—USSR. Scattered light showers
tell across most of the region.
Many winter gram areas of the
Ukraine and North Caucasus broke
dormancy under low topsoil
moisture conditions. If a persistent
dry period extends into the
growing season, the emerging crop
could be adversely affected.
—Europe. Mostly dry weather
continued over northern winter
grains while widespread
precipitation fell from France
south into Spam and east across
the Mediterranean. The
precipitation relieved a dry spell in
Spam which had persisted for
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several weeks. Average tem
peratures were high enough to
permit slow growth of winter
grams m many areas.
—Mexico. Mostly dry weather
over the major agricultural areas
further decreased soil moisture m
non-urigated fields. Lack of ram
on the southern Plateau's com belt
further delayed some planting and
development of recently emerged
plants. Irrigation, where
available, was needed to maintain
adequate soil moisture for the
developmg crops over most of the
country, and the water drawdown
for storage reservoirs was greater
than usual.
—South America. Showers over
eastern portions of Argentina’s
com and soybean area late m the
week caused temporary delays m
the harvests of gram, sunflowers
and first-crop soybeans. Dry
conditions in Chaco favored the
cotton harvest. Rainfall m Brazil
was mostly light, although heavier
showers interfered with harvest
activity m northern Rio Grande do
Sul, Santa Catarina, eastern
Parana, and much of Minas
Gerais. Beneficial dryness in Mato
Grosso allowed resumed soybean
havest activity, but quality may be
affected by earlier, persistent
rains. Brazil’s soybean harvest is
25 percent complete.
—Eastern Asia. Most of China's
dry area had little or no rainfall.
Only half of the imgable winter
gram fields are reportedly being
watered. All others remain under
stress; a third seriously. Wide
temperature fluctuations again oc
curred. Additional moisture is
needed to avert serious yield
declines when the crop heads m
about three weeks. The Sichuan
Valley also is becoming too dry.
South of the Yangtze River, condi
tions are generally favorable for
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the first rice crop. Warm, wet
weather in South Korea encourag
ed winter gram growth.
—South Asia. Dry weather and
near normal temperatures permit
ted harvesting in northern
Pakistan and India. In
Bangladesh, most crop areas had
no rain The southern tin of India
Rural demand for electricity slows
WASHINGTON D.C. - Statistics
pomt to a dramatic drop in the rate
of rise m electricity used by rural
people, causing a U.S. Department
of Agriculture official to doubt the
accuracy of future consumption
forecasts.
“The 388 reports received thus
far from rural electric systems
across the nation indicate that
electrical consumption grew about
1 percnt in 1981, the lowest ever
recorded in the 47-year history of
the program,” said Harold V.
Hunter, administrator of USDA’s
Rural Electrification Ad
ministration.
This represents a big decline
from the 1980 growth of 5.2 percent.
Hunter said. Until now, the lowest
growth rate on record was 3.4
percent m 1979.
Hunter said the figures pose
major policy questions for his
agency.
“Are the load forecasts being
prepared by Rural Electrification
Administration-financed rural
electric systems accurate?” he
asked. “If they are accurate today,
will they remain valid next year
and the year after, given the roller
coaster effect of electric con
sumption over the last few years? ”
A major concern posed by the
preliminary statistics, said
Hunter, is the possibility too much
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contmued to receive localized rain
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—Northwestern Africa.
Beneficial rams halted winter
gram yield declines in Morocco.
This moisture will allow the crop to
complete the reproductive stage
without further losses. Crop pro
generating capacity could be built
years m advance of the need,
saddling consumers with enor
mous rate increases to pay for idle
or under-utilized facilities.
“On the other hand,” he said,
“we must recognize that there is
sizeable growth in certain areas of
the Umted States, and our agency
must stand ready to provide
financial assistance where
necessary.”
Hunter said he has instructed his
staff to re-examine electircal load
forecasting mettiods to determine
whether the formulas and models
used in the past are vahd
predictors today.
“We are working closely with
organizations such as the National
Rural Electric Cooperative
Association, the Power
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spects from central Algeria east
remained good.
—South Africa. Warm, dry
weather returned to nearly all
com-growin areas where most of
the crop is now mature. Weekly
coverage of this region will be
discontinued until planting gets
underway next autumn.
Research Institute and the Oak
Ridge National Laboratories in
developing reliable load
forecasting models in an effort to
hone projections of electric
demand more sharply,” he said.
“In these tunes of strained
money supplies, pinpoint
forecasting of electrical demand is
of utmost importance. Under
building is just as costly as over
building. We must make every
effort to improve our forecasting
methods for the sake of rural
Americans.”
Since 1974, the Rural Elec
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guaranteed loans to rural power
supply systems totaling more than
$25 billion.
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