Weather

Fourth of July heat, humidity across the Heartland

 Across the Corn Belt, above-normal temperatures continue to promote a rapid pace of crop development. On July 1, progress for U.S. corn (17% silking) and soybeans (27% blooming) were significantly ahead of the respective 5-year averages of 8 and 13%. More than one-third of the corn in Illinois and Missouri began to silk during the week ending July 1, with overall progress in those states reaching 40 and 48%, respectively.

On the Plains, cool, showery weather in Montana and Dakotas contrasts with lingering heat farther south. On the southern High Plains, hot weather and limited soil moisture are maintaining stress on rangeland, pastures, and summer crops. In Texas, where topsoil moisture was rated 69% very short to short on July 1, more than one-third of the cotton (36%), sorghum (38%), and rangeland/pastures (40%) were rated very poor to poor.

In the South, a disturbance near the central Gulf Coast remains a focus for locally heavy showers. Hot, humid weather prevails throughout the South, with pockets of dryness remaining a concern for summer crops in a few areas. On July 1, topsoil moisture was rated at least one-half short in Louisiana (54%) and Arkansas (53%).

In the West, cool air continues to overspread California and the Northwest, but hot, breezy conditions are maintaining an elevated to critical risk of wildfires in the southern Great Basin and the Four Corners States.

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