One insurance company reports that farmers have been hurriedly buying hail insurance early today to protect the remainder of their crops, which in some instances, has already been severely damaged by storms last week.
Farms in central North Dakota could see severe thunderstorms through tonight with high winds expected, according to the National Weather Service in Bismarck.
Wade Haseleu, farm and crop manager at Cottingham Insurance in Underwood, said 25,000 acres of crops in Underwood were affected by severe storms on Thursday with half at near total losses and the other half damaged.
High winds will pick up in the western and central regions of the states with possible gusts up to 60 mph, according to Bill Abeling, meteorologist at the National Weather Service.
"This week is going to be really quiet after Wednesday," Abeling said. "Tuesday, though, is going to be really windy. It's going to be really uncomfortable outside."
The wind is expected to bring further damage to farms previously hit by severe weather and hail, including Underwood and Wilton, which were hit hard by thunderstorms on Thursday and Friday.
Haseleu said 25,000 acres of crops in Underwood were affected by severe storms on Thursday with half at near total losses and the other half damaged.
The storm on Friday night damaged much of what was left, he said.
"Some of (the farmers) lost what they had left," Haseleu said. "There's no coming back from this. They're a whole year away from getting income again."
Severe weather from Monday night's storm or high winds could cause farmers to lose the rest of their crops because what's left is already damaged, according to Haseleu.
"That wheat and barley, it could shell the rest of the crop out," he said. "It will finish off anything that's just holding on."
Haseleu said it's unfortunate because this year's crop was one of the biggest the county's ever seen and only about half of the farmer's had hail insurance.
Despite chances for high winds, the rest of the week is expected to remain calm, according to Abeling.
Temperatures will decrease to highs in the mid-60s today, then increase again to high 70s on Wednesday, 80s on Thursday and in the upper 80s on Friday.
There will be a few scattered showers Tuesday, but the end of the week and into the weekend is expected to remain mostly dry.
Source - http://bismarcktribune.com/
