Weather
Cold pattern continues across the Midwest
Across the Corn Belt, mostly dry weather accompanies near- to below-normal temperatures, although snow showers linger in the Great Lakes region. Late-planted winter wheat is struggling to germinate in the eastern Corn Belt, where crop emergence on November 30 had reached 89% in Michigan and 93% in Indiana and Ohio.
On the Plains, cool, dry weather prevails in the wake of a cold front’s passage. The dry conditions favor fieldwork, including the High Plains’ cotton harvest, which remains behind schedule. On November 30, only 65% of the cotton in Kansas had been harvested. Meanwhile, winter wheat-related concerns include long-term drought (on the southern Plains) and the effects of the November cold wave (on the central High Plains).
In the South, dry weather in many areas favors late-season fieldwork, including winter wheat planting and cotton and soybean harvesting. Cool, damp weather lingers, however, in the southern Mid-Atlantic region, where North Carolina’s soybean harvest was 76% complete on November 30. On the same date, North Carolina’s cotton was 92% harvested, while winter wheat was 88% planted.
In the West, an impressive, early-season storm continues to provide limited drought relief in California. Prior to this storm, however, very little snow had accumulated in the key watershed areas of the Sierra Nevada. In addition, flash flooding remains a threat, especially in the mountains of southern California. Elsewhere, rain and high-elevation snow showers continue to push farther inland across the Southwest and Intermountain West.
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