Weather

Soggy fields plague the eastern, southern Corn Belt

On the Plains, mild, dry weather prevails. Gradual recovery from last year’s historic drought continues on the southern Plains, where sub-soil moisture reserves and reservoir supplies remain limited in many areas.

Across the Corn Belt, showers and a few thunderstorms are sweeping across the Ohio Valley and the lower Great Lakes region. Meanwhile, wet snow is falling in the vicinity of Lakes Superior and Michigan. Precipitation is beneficial in the drought-affected upper Great Lakes region, but maintaining soggy conditions in parts of the eastern Corn Belt.

In the South, light rain showers are returning to the lower Southeast in the wake of recent, drought-easing precipitation. Meanwhile, the central Gulf Coast region is experiencing pockets of lowland flooding, following last week’s heavy rainfall, which totaled 4 inches or more in many locations from Louisiana into southern Alabama and western-most Florida.

In the West, disappointingly dry weather persists. Currently, precipitation is mainly confined to the northern Rockies and the Pacific Northwest. Last week, widespread showers dotted much of the West, but precipitation totals were generally light and resulted in little change in the developing drought situation.