Mexico, Central America Coolness; Minor Impact On Crops
By Drew Lerner
Kansas City, February 16 (World Weather Inc.) – Cool temperatures were noted in portions of Mexico and Central America Sunday through this morning. The cold had little impact on winter crops, although there were some concerns in portions of coffee, cocoa. rice, sugarcane and some tropical 
fruit production areas. Some dry bean production areas in northern Mexico actually experienced some freezes. The other issue prevailing in Mexico is the lack of rainfall this month across the north and that will persist for a while longer.
Cool conditions occurred in much of Mexico and portions of Central America over the past couple of days. This morning’s low temperatures are not in, but they will be no cooler than those of Monday. Most temperatures slipped into the range of upper 30s and 40s Fahrenheit across interior portions of Mexico, but there were some freezes. Most of the coldest conditions occurred in the north of Mexico and impacted a few dry bean and fresh vegetable production areas in Durango and Chihuahua where a little damage might have occurred.
World Weather, Inc. believes most of the coffee, cocoa, sugarcane, rice, and tropical fruits produced throughout Mexico and into Central America were not likely seriously impacted. Some of the traditionally coolest areas may have experienced some frost, but relative to the entire agricultural region from northern Mexico to Panama any damage would have been minimal due to its highly localized occurrence. None of the cold was deep enough or lasted long enough to have much of an impact.
A larger issue for Mexico may be the lack of rainfall this month. El Nino had promised to bring abundant rain across northern parts of the nation and January was wetter biased in much of the north, but little to no rain has occurred so far this month and the outlook is a little bleak for significant rainfall through the end of this month. Greater precipitation will be needed in March and April to support winter and spring crops as well as possible. Many winter and spring crops are irrigated and water supply is likely sufficient to carry on normal crop development, but grater rainfall would improve dryland production and could supplement irrigated crops and help them perform better than usual.
World Weather, Inc. forecasts and comments pertaining to present, past and future weather conditions included in this report constitute the corporation’s judgment as of the date of this report and are subject to change without notice. Comments regarding damage or the impact of weather on agricultural and energy as well as comments made regarding the impact of weather on the commodity and financial markets are the explicit opinions of World Weather, Inc. World Weather, Inc. cannot be held responsible for decisions made by users of the Corporation’s information in any business, trade or investment decision.
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