Weather

Cooler air ahead for northern areas this weekend, heat elsewhere for the Heartland; severe storms

A continental-scale heat wave will remain in place for the next few days, boosting maximum temperatures to 100°F or higher as far north as the northern Plains and as far east as the Mississippi Valley. The heat will be untimely for reproductive to filling summer crops, especially in areas where soil-moisture shortages exist. 

During the weekend, modest heat relief will occur, starting across the northern Plains and upper Midwest before expanding southward.  However, the southern half of the U.S. will remain quite hot, with triple-digit (100-degree) temperatures lasting through the weekend from the central and southern Plains into the Southeast. 

Dry weather will accompany the Southern heat, while showers and thunderstorms will stretch from the northern Plains into the Northeast, including the northern and eastern Corn Belt.  Elsewhere, monsoon-related showers will dot the Southwest, while dry weather will cover California, the Great Basin, and the Northwest.