Weather
Summer-like weather holds across the Midwest
Across the Corn Belt, warm, dry weather is ideal for corn and soybean maturation and harvesting, as well as winter wheat planting. On October 16, the corn harvest was less than one-third complete in Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas—and running 10 to 12 percentage points behind the respective 5-year averages for each state.
On the Plains, slightly cooler air is arriving in the wake of a weak cold front’s passage. On Monday, Kansas locations such as Dodge City (101°) and Garden City (100°) achieved triple-digit heat in October for the first time on record. On the central and southern Plains, some producers are awaiting rain before planting winter wheat. On October 16, only 73% of the Kansas wheat crop was planted, behind the 5-year average of 79%.
In the South, warm, dry weather continues to promote flood-recovery efforts in the eastern Carolinas. Mean-while, drought is further intensifying across the interior Southeast, where pastures were rated at least one-half very poor to poor on October 16 in Tennessee (53%), Georgia (51%), and Alabama (50%).
In the West, cool, showery weather lingers along the Pacific coast as far south as northwestern California. In stark contrast, an elevated to critical risk of wildfires exists in the coastal mountains of southern California due to windy, dry conditions and underlying drought. Warm, dry weather prevails in the Four Corners region.
Forecast High Temperatures (National)
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