Western FSU
Mostly favourable
weather prevailed, with rain in western and northern growing areas contrasting
with dry conditions for much of the week in southern Russia.
A
persistent blocking high over northern Eurasia continued to cause storms to
drift and stall over Ukraine and northern Russia.
As a
result, an additional 10 to 55mm of rain from central Ukraine into western and
northern Russia sustained adequate to abundant soil moisture for filling winter
wheat as well as vegetative corn, soybeans, and sunflowers in Moldova, Ukraine,
and western Russia.
However,
key southern Russian winter wheat areas of Rostov and Krasnodar Krai (located
in the southwestern Southern District) were dry for much of the week, which
enabled winter wheat maturation and drydown.
After a
cool start to the week, increasingly warm weather (30-34°C) developed over
much of Russia as well as western-most crop areas.
Eastern FSU
Beneficial
showers continued over the region’s primary spring wheat areas, while
early-season heat lingered over eastern portions of the region.
For the
second consecutive week, showers and thunderstorms (10-55 mm) across northern
Kazakhstan and central Russia boosted soil moisture for crop establishment.
Localized
pockets of dry weather continued in Russia’s Siberia District, but most areas
have sufficient soil moisture for proper spring wheat development.
Eastern-most
spring wheat areas experienced daytime highs at or above 30°C, which
accelerated crop development but also increased evapotranspiration rates.
Farther
south, seasonable heat continued - albeit not as hot as last week - with
daytime readings topping 35°C (locally as high as 40°C in Uzbekistan and 44°C
in Turkmenistan) across much of the region’s southern tier.
The
heat was accompanied by showers and thunderstorms (10-50 mm, locally more than
100 mm), which provided supplemental moisture for vegetative cotton and also
boosted irrigation reserves.