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Ag meteorologist: May has mixed weather

An ag meteorologist says May will start out cool and wet for much of the Corn Belt.

Greg Soulje tells Brownfield the Eastern Corn Belt will continue to feel like early spring, which isn’t great for planting progress.

“The daytime readings will be in the 40s, 50s and 60s in the Mississippi Valley and some showers or snow in the northern end of the Corn Belt. There’s not much opportunity for growth and development in the northern part of the region.”

He says frost or freeze isn’t completely ruled out for the Western Corn Belt, but it shouldn’t cause major damage. He says a moderate to seasonal weather pattern is expected.

“Hip, hip, hurray for the folks in the plains and Kansas for the recent rains. This coming week, they’ll have some rain in the Black Hills of Kansas to Oklahoma and Texas.”

Soulje says rainfall also is possible in portions of the Corn Belt later this week. He says it won’t break the drought starting to show up in the central part of the country, but it will help settle the dust.

“A quarter to a half inch of rain in areas is expected. It’s not great, but you must crawl before you walk.”

Soulje says the small amounts of moisture should help with crop emergence and development. Longer-term, he says the dry conditions could persist in the transition to El Nino.