Weather

A wide-range of temperatures, weather across the Heartland

Across the Corn Belt, highly variable conditions range from blizzard conditions in the eastern Dakotas and western Minnesota to record-setting warmth in the lower Midwest.  Wednesday’s high temperatures will range from 10°F or below in the Red River Valley of the North to 70°F or higher in the Ohio Valley.  The area experiencing wind-driven snow is limited to the far upper Midwest, while much of the remainder of the Corn Belt is experiencing warm, windy weather.

On the Plains, blizzard conditions are occurring early Wednesday in parts of the eastern Dakotas.  Snow has ended across the remainder of the northern Plains.  Farther south, a trailing storm system emerging from the Rockies is producing snow, which is rapidly overspreading eastern Colorado and other sections of the central High Plains.  Livestock producers on the central Plains have been preparing for the storm, which is also providing much-needed moisture for winter wheat.

In the South, spring is arriving early, amid ongoing warmth.  In Texas, 15% of the oats and 13% of the winter wheat had headed, statewide, by February 12, compared to the respective 5-year averages of 5 and 7%.  Wednesday’s high temperatures will exceed 70°F throughout the region, except in the southern Appalachians, and could reach 90°F in Deep South Texas.

In the West, snow continues across higher elevations of the Four Corners States, although precipitation intensity has begun to diminish.  The remainder of the West is experiencing cold, dry weather.  A Freeze Warning was in effect Wednesday morning in California’s San Joaquin Valley, where some producers may have employed protective measures to guard against injury to temperature-sensitive crops, such as citrus.