Weather

Heat builds back on the Plains; milder weather across the Midwestern Corn Belt

Across the Corn Belt, mild, dry weather prevails.  Wednesday’s high temperatures should range from 80 to 85°F in the eastern Corn Belt—but could reach 95°F or higher in the middle Missouri Valley.  Reflecting limited moisture availability for corn and soybeans in parts of the western Corn Belt, topsoil moisture on August 7 was rated at least one-half very short to short in Nebraska (74%), Missouri (50%), and Iowa (50%).

On the Plains, hot, dry weather across the northern half of the region favors maturation and harvesting of crops such as barley, spring wheat, and winter wheat.  However, the northern Plains’ heat—accompanied by pockets of unfavorable dryness—is stressing immature summer crops, including corn.  Wednesday’s high temperatures should reach 100°F as far north as southeastern Montana.  Elsewhere, slightly cooler conditions and scattered showers are overspreading the southern Plains, although rangeland, pastures, and immature summer crops remain significantly stressed by drought.

In the South, warm, humid, showery weather continues.  Growing conditions remain mostly favorable for Southeastern pastures and immature summer crops.  Meanwhile, variable crop stress exists in the mid-South and western Gulf Coast region, which have experienced a hotter- and drier-than-normal summer.

In the West, flash flooding is a threat in portions of the Four Corners States, extending into the Great Basin.  The recent and ongoing rainfall, associated with the Southwestern monsoon circulation, has resulted in reduced irrigation demands and local improvements in topsoil moisture.  However, chronic drought—featuring low reservoir levels and poor forest health—remains part of the Southwestern landscape.  Elsewhere, hot weather lingers across the Northwest, where several active wildfires are causing local air-quality degradation.  However, the Northwestern heat favors small grain harvesting.