[Listen] Tom Hoverstad SROC Another Weather Record?

Tom Hoverstad is a Scientist at the Southern research and Outreach Center at Waseca. Tom monitors the weather from their official weather station at Waseca. Typically I call Tom early in the month to talk about the previous month's weather. However, I had to call Tom Wednesday to ask about this really nice warm weather. As we approached the middle of December I saw pork producers still injecting manure, some fall tillage was still going on in addition to a lot of tile drainage being plowed in.

I do not have any "official"l records other than my memory over the decades. I cannot ever remember being able to do field work this far into December. I can remember plowing trying to get as much done before the frost got too deep in the fall. I distinctly remember one year we plowed until December 4 but that was the latest I can recall. Tom said typically we have 6 to 8 inches of frost by the middle of December and right now there is very little if any frost in the ground!

Tom added that this is the latest he has ever seen field work being done. One of the contributing factors is likely how dry it has been. In fact we may be in the process of setting an all time record for number of days without measurable precipitation! No snow and dry soils allow temperatures to stay warmer than if we had wet soils and snow cover. Click on the link and listen to Tom talk about this warm and dry weather!