For most of the period of December 11-20, Ukraine was exposed to variable air temperatures and insignificant precipitation in the form of snow. So, the average daily air temperature was 1.1-2.4⁰С above normal on December 11-13, but then fell to 2.8-4.5⁰С below normal towards December 20, varying from +1⁰С to -5.4⁰С. Precipitation in the form of snow occurred on December 11-12 and December 18-20. Its amount varied from 1.8 to 3.6 mm (17% of normal for December 11-20) in the south and from 14.4 to 20.3 mm (127% of normal) in the west. The snow cover height in winter crop fields increased to 1.5-2.3 cm in the central, western and northern regions, though it ranged from 2 to 5 cm in the rest of Ukraine. As of December 20, the lowest soil temperature at the tillering-node depth was 1⁰С below zero. Thick snow cover (up to 18 cm) protects winter crops from the penetration of low temperatures deep into the soil. However, combined with the absence of low air temperatures, this reduced the soil freezing depth from 2-4 cm to 0-1 cm and increased the minimum soil temperature at the tillering node depth to 0⁰С. When such quite thick snow cover stays for long with shallowly frozen or thawed soil, winter crops may get rotten. The risk of this adverse event will manifest itself if thick snow cover persists within 20-30 days. Measurement of the content of carbohydrates accumulated in the tillering nodes of plants indicated that their amount early in the winter season was quite high. It equaled 37-42% in winter wheat sown after black fallow and 36-38% in that sown after non-fallow predecessors. According to the Land Farming Institute, winter wheat plants entered winter in the tillering stage. Their height equals 16-21 cm. The crop condition is good. Overall, the December 11-20 weather conditions were fair for winter crops. Their condition did not change compared with the previous week. Source - http://www.blackseagrain.net