Weather

Weather varies greatly across the Heartland

Across the Corn Belt, clouds and showers linger across the Ohio Valley. Generally dry weather and above-normal temperatures continue to expand across the remainder of the Midwest, favoring corn and soybean development but reducing topsoil moisture reserves. On June 6, topsoil moisture was rated at least one-half very short to short in Michigan, Minnesota, and the Dakotas. Later Wednesday, high temperatures should range from 90 to 100° throughout the upper Midwest.

On the Plains, scattered showers in the Dakotas are providing limited relief from a drought that has significantly stressed rangeland, pastures, winter wheat, and many spring-sown crops. On June 6 in North Dakota, 67% of the rangeland and pastures were rated very poor to poor, along with 32% of the soybeans, 31% of the barley, 29% of the spring wheat, 25% of the oats, and 17% of the corn. Meanwhile, hot, dry weather has developed across the southern Plains, promoting crop development and a return to fieldwork, including winter wheat harvesting.

In the South, warm, humid weather prevails. Locally heavy showers in the mid-South, including southern Arkansas and northern Mississippi, are perpetuating fieldwork delays and maintaining the threat of flash flooding. Elsewhere, dry weather has returned across the western Gulf Coast region, allowing most elevated rivers to begin receding.

In the West, an elevated wildfire threat persists in parts of the Great Basin, Intermountain West, and Southwest, due to gusty winds and low humidity levels. The two largest active wildfires—the Telegraph and Mescal Fires, burning east of Phoenix, Arizona—have collectively charred more than 140,000 acres of grass, brush, and chaparral. Meanwhile, cool weather prevails in California and the Northwest, though scattered showers are mostly confined to the northern Rockies.