USDA’s Joint Ag Weather Facility says on the Plains, lingering showers continued to hamper the final stages of spring wheat planting in Montana and North Dakota. “In contrast, heat and dryness maintain stress on crops and pastures on the southern Plains, though showers are reaching as far south as Kansas,” according to USDA.
In the West, USDA reports scattered showers have developed throughout the Rocky Mountain states, but Red Flag Warnings, indicating an elevated risk of wildfire activity, have been issued from southern Nevada to eastern Colorado.
In the Corn Belt, USDA says sunny skies favor late corn and soybean planting in the middle Mississippi Valley as stormy weather exits the Ohio Valley.
In the South, USDA reports hot, dry weather favors crop development and fieldwork, including late-season planting activities and winter wheat harvesting. “However, showers and thunderstorms will be active later today throughout the Southeast with the passage of a strong cold front,” USDA adds.
USDA’s outlook says the storm system currently located over the Ohio Valley will generate widespread showers and thunderstorms – some locally strong – across the mid-Atlantic region through this evening. “Severe thunderstorm and flood watches have been posted from West Virginia to southern New England, with flash flood watches remaining in effect as far west as Indiana,” USDA reports. Drier, cooler weather will dominate the eastern Corn Belt for several days in the wake of the storm, encouraging late corn and soybean planting, according to USDA. “By tomorrow, however, rain is forecast to return to western sections of the Corn Belt, with showers reaching the Ohio Valley by Monday,” USDA explains. Meanwhile, USDA says hot, mostly dry weather will dominate much of the South, fostering rapid development of crops and pasture, though parts of the southern Plains could see some beneficial, albeit scattered, showers. “Cool weather is expected in the West through the weekend before heat returns early next week, with showers in the northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest,” USDA continues.
