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Snow cover and soil moisture

Promising moisture conditions for spring planting

Snow cover on agricultural land this winter appears to be significant throughout much of the state. Growers hope that the coming snowmelt will lead to ample moisture in the ground for spring planting. Kim Fundingsland/MDN

Snow cover is generally consistent throughout much of North Dakota. The hope is that when the snow melts it will sink into the ground rather than run off quickly. A favorable melting season would add greatly to soil moisture conditions.

Ample soil moisture is required to spur the emergence of newly planted seeds. Snowmelt has traditionally been a good source of moisture early in the growing season.

Last November there was heavy snowfall in the southwestern part of the state, but it melted off before the arrival of the coldest days of winter.

“All that water stayed put,” said Allen Schlag, hydrologist, National Weather Service in Bismarck. “Not a drop of it made it to a river. Across the state in December we were warm, nearly a perfectly brown Christmas.”

Nearly, but not quite. Snow arrived throughout the state a few hours before Christmas Eve. However, by early January most of that snowpack had disappeared.

“All of that snow melted,” remarked Schlag. “It all stayed on the ground. It’s been cold and very cold ever since. What I am hearing from co-op observers is that the upper few inches, 4 to 10 inches of soil, are probably very wet. I think we have hard, frozen ground across a great deal of North Dakota.”

Worth watching, said Schlag, is the timing of this year’s snowmelt. Cold weather has dominated forecasts for many weeks, making spring seem much further away than it really is. In short, freezing cold temperatures could be supplanted by spring warmth very quickly without any sort of transitional period, or gentle melt.

“There’s a layer of ice on top of the ground in many areas,” said Schlag. “The season is really pushing us, especially in the southern tier of the state. They are in line for a rather robust runoff even with normal snowpack.”

Ice cover and frozen ground, explained Schlag, can prevent snowmelt from penetrating into the soil as much as may be desired in many areas of the state. Nevertheless, existing snow cover carries with it the possibility of leading to excellent soil moisture conditions throughout much of North Dakota this spring.

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