This monitoring period covers the planting and early growth of winter crops. The national NDVI development profile illustrates initially below average crop condition, which then grows closer to average in January. With 317 mm of rainfall, rainfall was 5% above average, temperature (6.7°C) was above average as well (+1.1°C), while radiation (RADPAR) was 3% below. 

The Great Plains, Northwest, and lower Mississippi are the main winter wheat areas for the country. Among these, the lower Mississippi area experienced dry and warm weather in the important winter wheat production states of Arkansas (RAIN, -20% and TEMP, +1.6°C), Missouri and Louisiana (both -14% for rain but TEMP at +1.4°C and 1.8°C， respectively), and Mississippi (RAIN, -6% and TEMP +2.1°C). This resulted in unfavorable crop condition that is supported by low VCIx values and negative NDVI departure profiles. On the contrary, abundant rainfall was recorded in states of the Great Plains and Northwest, including Kansas (RAIN, +11%), South Dakota (+86%), Montana (+115%), Washington (+13%), Oregon (+22%), and California (+45%), which provides a needed soil water supply for winter wheat growth. The northwest and western states suffered from ice storms in December and January, including Washington (TEMP, -0.9°C), Oregon (-1.1°C), Idaho (-2.9°C), and California (-0.2°C). Above average rainfall also benefited the growth of winter wheat in the Great Plains; this is supported by positive NDVI anomalies in Kansas, South Dakota, and California. The cold wave in northwest states is well illustrated by the negative NDVI departures after December. 

The warm and wet condition in winter wheat areas resulted in an increase of the fraction of cropped arable land (CALF) by as much as 10.15 percentage points compared with the five-year average. Crop condition in the United States is currently average, while conditions in the lower Mississippi area need continued close monitoring. 

(a) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI      (b) Maximum VCI

(c) spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA                                             (d) NDVI profiles