Enviro-Weather: New look, new tools

Editor’s note: This article is from the archives of the MSU Crop Advisory Team Alerts. Check the label of any pesticide referenced to ensure your use is included.

Visit www.enviroweather.msu.edu

Spring has finally arrived and despite the freezing temperatures, there are signs that the growing season will soon be upon us: crocuses are blooming, grass is greening, robins are singing and vultures are circling. Enviro-weather has been spruced up for the 2009 season with a new look and some new tools.

New look

The commodity and station pages have been re-organized and re-formatted making them easier to understand and to navigate. The same links, weather summaries, and pest and production tools are there; they’ve just been re-arranged and spiffed up a bit.

New tools

We’ve added a few new tools to the Forestry and Christmas Tree pages. You can view soil temperature and soil moisture at two and four-inches for any weather station (select the “soil conditions tool” under weather summaries). You can also view a list of degree-day triggers for many landscape and forestry insect pests.

Coming soon

Enviro-weather will soon debut a new Gypsy Moth Tool that will help in decision making for gypsy moth treatments. The tool was developed in collaboration with the MSU Christmas Tree Area of Expertise Team. Included will be maps showing current degree-day accumulations (base 50), current departures from “normal” degree-day accumulations (base 50), and current “spray windows” for gypsy moth treatment. We anticipate this tool will be available by April 1.

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