Weather

An early-summerlike feel across much of the Corn Belt; a strong cold front on the Plains

Across the Corn Belt, a record crest was established on Thursday along the Big Sioux River near Florence, South Dakota, topping a high-water mark set in April 1997.  Moderate flooding is occurring on the Big Sioux River as far south as Brookings, South Dakota.  Meanwhile, rain showers developing across the upper Midwest are contributing to runoff that has become heavy in recent days due to rapidly melting snow.  In advance of an approaching cold front, unusually warm weather lingers across the central and eastern Corn Belt.

On the Plains, a strong cold front bisects the region.  Friday’s high temperatures will reach 85°F or higher as far north as eastern Kansas, while a significantly elevated wildfire threat persists across the southern High Plains.  Scattered showers, stretching from the Dakotas to the central High Plains, precede and accompany the front.

In the South, a low-pressure system continues to drift farther inland toward the Tennessee Valley.  Locally heavy showers dot the Southeast, although the threat of flash flooding has greatly diminished as the system begins to weaken.  In contrast, warm, dry weather in the western Gulf Coast region and the mid-South favors fieldwork and crop development. 

In the West, cool but dry weather favors spring fieldwork.  Small grain planting is underway in the Northwest; on April 9, Washington led the nation, among major production states, in spring wheat and barley planting—11 and 5 percent complete, respectively.  Any lingering precipitation is confined to the central Rockies and environs.

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