Weather

Winter-like chill across the Heartland

Across the Corn Belt, very cool, mostly dry weather prevails. Friday morning’s low temperatures dipped below 20° in the northern Corn Belt, from the eastern Dakotas to parts of Michigan.

On the Plains, mostly dry weather prevails. However, lingering cool weather across the eastern Plains contrasts with warm, breezy conditions on the High Plains. Despite recent precipitation, soil moisture shortages persist across portions of the central and southern Plains. In Oklahoma, for example, topsoil moisture was rated 54% very short to short on March 22, while subsoil moisture was 69% very short to short.

In the South, rain showers linger from the southern Appalachians to the Atlantic Seaboard. The rain is slowing Southeastern fieldwork but boosting topsoil moisture. Farther west, wet fields and pockets of lowland flooding continue to hamper planting activities from southern and eastern Texas to the Mississippi Delta.

In the West, record-setting warmth stretches from the Pacific Coast to the northern Rockies. Friday’s high temperatures will approach 100° in the Desert Southwest. The anomalous warmth continues to prematurely melt abysmally deficient snowpack in the Pacific Coast States, Great Basin, and Southwest.

Morning Low Temperature Plot

Weather Alerts

Forecast High Temperatures (National)