Agriculture is very much a weather-dependent pursuit. The success or failure of both garden and field crops in any given year depends primarily on the rainfall and temperatures. Even pastures should be managed with an eye to the sky.

With this in mind, it is a good idea to know roughly what type of weather you can expect in an average year. Oregon State University has a series of 30-Year Normals maps of the United States that will be very useful to you as you pursue your country living adventure. This information can be critical in determining which practices make the most sense for your local climate.

Information displayed by the map includes:

• Precipitation.
• Mean temperature.
• Minimum temperature.
• Maximum temperature.
• Mean dewpoint temperature.
• Minimum vapor pressure deficit (a measure of the moisture saturation of the air).
• Maximum vapor pressure deficit.
• Elevation.

Data can be viewed by month or as an annual average.

Great way to get a handle on your local climate!