Weather
Early-season heat across the Heartland
Across the Corn Belt, mostly dry weather continues, except for showers and thunderstorms across the region’s northern tier. The heart of the Corn Belt, including much of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, northern Missouri, and eastern Nebraska, has received little rain in the last 2 weeks, favoring winter wheat maturation but sharply reducing topsoil moisture for corn and soybean development. In addition, daytime temperatures above 90° reached the western Corn Belt late last week and overspread the remainder of the Midwest on Sunday.
On the Plains, slightly cooler air—accompanied by scattered thundershowers—continues to overspread Montana and the Dakotas, but hot weather persists farther south. Weekend showers on the northern Plains provided scattered but highly beneficial moisture for drought-stressed crops, pastures, and rangeland.
In the South, showery weather lingers in the Gulf Coast region, with some of the heaviest rain falling across northern Florida and southern Georgia. Southeastern showers continue to disrupt fieldwork, including winter wheat harvesting, but are helping to erase most remaining vestiges of drought.
In the West, unusually cool weather prevails. In addition, snow is blanketing some of the higher peaks in the Sierra Nevada and the northern Great Basin. Farther south, gusty winds are affecting the Four Corners States.
Forecast High Temperatures (National)
Add Comment