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August forecast: stormy with average temps

An atmospheric scientist says August will start stormy with average temperatures across the Corn Belt.

Eric Snodgrass says temperatures will range in the mid to upper 80s with favorable overnight conditions and good moisture likely with the storms that move through, a positive for the soybeans.

“Near normal to above normal precipitation is key.”

And Snodgrass says there is slow moving moisture in the forecast for the Dakotas and Minnesota heading into the weekend.

“This is the kind of rain we all want, but don’t get anymore. This is the kind of rain that lasts 6 to 12 hours and then, it moves out compared to a blast of rain that comes in from a big storm system that does a lot of damage.”

But Snodgrass says there’s always a chance for storm damage to crops with an active weather pattern.

“And in the last week of July, there was at least 2,500 reports of storm damage and we need that to stop, but need the rain.”

He says the Delta region is expected to start out drier than the Corn Belt as August begins, but that can always change because…

“It’s hurricane season time. If you get one storm system to blow up in the Gulf of Mexico and move north, there’s no more talk of drought.”

Snodgrass is the principal atmospheric scientist with Nutrien Ag Solutions.