Weather
Wind-blown, cold wave pattern continues across the Heartland
Across the Corn Belt, Blizzard Warnings were in effect in portions of the far upper Midwest, including the Red River Valley. Elsewhere in the Corn Belt, frigid, breezy conditions are maintaining stress on livestock. Thursday morning’s temperatures plunged to 0° or below as far south as the Ohio and middle Mississippi Valleys, threatening unprotected and poorly established soft red winter wheat.
On the Plains, snow, blowing snow, and high winds are resulting in travel disruptions and difficult conditions for livestock across portions of eastern Montana and the Dakotas. Cold, dry, breezy conditions prevail across the southern half of the region, except for mild weather on the central High Plains.
In the South, temperatures remained above the freezing mark in Florida’s citrus belt, with temperatures falling mostly into the middle and upper 30s in northern production areas. Deep South Texas also escaped without a freeze, but temperatures as low as 20° may have burned back new sugarcane growth in southern Louisiana. Freeze Warnings were in effect early Thursday from eastern Texas to northern Florida.
In the West, mild, dry weather prevails in most areas. Exceptions include the interior Northwest, where there is fog and air stagnation, and southern parts of Arizona and New Mexico, where a few showers are developing.
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