GDD

Spatially-interpolated Growing Degree Days (GDD) in Montana shown here is a collaborative effort between The High Plains Regional Climate Center and The Northwestern Agricultural Research Center (NWARC), Montana State University. Traditionally, the accumulated GDD is used to predict plant stages as agronomic management are applied at specific growth stage. See detailed MSU publication on ‘using growing degree days to predict plant stages‘ by Miller et al., 2001. Other uses could be building models for incidence of various pests and diseases such as relating GDD with monitoring of orange wheat blossom midge.

Placement of these maps in this webpage is only temporary (for testing purposes) and will be deployed under MSU website.

The GDD maps below are with fixed starting dates: Jan 1, Feb 1, March 1, and April 1 and base temperatures: 32, 40, and 50 degree Fahrenheit. They are automatically updated real-time. Click on the individual images for a larger view.

The text versions, for greater flexibility, are still in the works. Stay tune!

Acknowledgement

Thank you Martha Shulski and Bill Sorensen, High Plains Regional Climate Center,  for extending your efforts to the State of Montana.