On the Plains, lingering showers and thunderstorms are confined to portions of Oklahoma and northern Texas. Meanwhile, warm weather is returning to the northern Plains, following a recent period of highly beneficial rainfall.

Across the Corn Belt, scattered, generally beneficial showers are occurring in the vicinity of a cold front stretching southward from Michigan. The front separates warm, humid air in the eastern-most Corn Belt from slightly cooler, dry weather in the western Corn Belt.

In the South, Tropical Storm Alberto – a very small system – is currently centered about 100 miles east-northeast of St. Augustine, Florida, with minimal impacts on U.S. weather. Elsewhere, a few showers – not directly related to Alberto – are spreading inland across the southern Mid-Atlantic States, while beneficial rain associated with a cold front is falling in parts of the lower Mississippi Valley.

In the West, warm, dry weather prevails, except for a return to cool, showery conditions in the Pacific Northwest.

On the Plains, beneficial rain is ending across Montana and the Dakotas, where cool, breezy weather prevails. Across the southern half of the Plains, warm, dry weather is maintaining concerns about the deteriorating conditions of summer crops and immature winter wheat.

Across the Corn Belt, showers and thunderstorms across the upper Midwest are slowing soybean planting but providing highly beneficial moisture for summer crops. Meanwhile, warm, dry air is expanding across the central and eastern Corn Belt, where pockets of unfavorable dryness exist.

In the South, showers continue to ease or eradicate drought in the southern Mid-Atlantic States. In contrast, worsening drought is adversely affecting pastures and summer crops in the Mid-South, including the northern Mississippi Delta.

In the West, cool weather in California and the Northwest contrasts with lingering heat in the Southwest. Scattered rain and high-elevation snow showers accompany the Northwestern cool spell.

The Weekly Crop & Weather Bulletin