Weather
Historic, early-season warmth the midwestern Corn Belt
On the Plains, record-breaking warmth continues to cause wheat to prematurely lose winter hardiness. Later Monday, high temperatures could approach or reach 80° as far north as South Dakota. On the southern Plains, rangeland, pastures, and winter grains are benefiting from recent soil moisture improvements.
Across the Corn Belt, rain showers stretch from Michigan to Missouri. Despite cloudiness and rain showers across the central, southern and eastern Corn Belt, nearly unprecedented warmth persists. On February 20, Illinois locations such as Lincoln and Peoria—both 74°—tied monthly high temperature records.
In the South, warmth continues, but widespread showers are falling across the lower Mississippi Valley and gradually spreading eastward.
In the West, showery weather lingers across northern and central California and the Northwest, although precipitation intensity has diminished. In addition, colder weather in the Pacific Coast States is helping to reduce runoff. According to the California Department of Water Resources, the average water content of the Sierra Nevada snowpack has topped 40 inches—about 180% of normal for this time of year.
Forecast High Temperatures (National)
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