USDA: Flooding in the Upper Corn Belt Contrasts with Dryness in the Eastern Belt

USDA's Joint Ag Weather Facility says in the Corn Belt, showers and thunderstorms continue in the vicinity of a cold front stretching from the Great Lakes region into Missouri. "In the wake of recent downpours, localized lowland flooding persists in the upper Midwest, including parts of Minnesota," USDA reports. In contrast, unfavorably hot, dry weather in the eastern Corn Belt is maintaining stress on pastures and summer crops, according to USDA.

In the West, USDA says dry weather favors fieldwork. "Temperatures are quickly rebounding to above-normal levels, although cool conditions linger along the immediate Pacific Coast," USDA adds.

On the Plains, USDA says cool, dry weather covers the northwestern half of the region. "Meanwhile, showers and thunderstorms dot the central and southern Plains, slowing final winter wheat harvest efforts but benefiting pastures and summer crops," USDA explains.

In the South, hot, dry weather prevails, except for persistent showers in coastal Texas and southern Florida, according to USDA. "Recent rainfall has generally eased or eradicated drought in the Southeast, but drought continues to adversely affect pastures and rain-fed summer crops in Arkansas and neighboring areas of the Mid-South," USDA reports.

USDA's outlook says the passage of a cold front currently crossing the Corn Belt will put an end to a short-lived heat wave across the Midwest and Northeast. "A secondary cold front will cross the same regions early next week, resulting in the arrival of below-normal temperatures," USDA elaborates. In contrast, USDA says hot weather will persist into the early part of next week across the South and return to the Rockies and High Plains. Cool weather will return, however, to the Pacific Coast states, USDA adds. "Regardless of tropical development, five-day rainfall totals of 2 to 6 inches, with locally higher amounts, can be expected across Florida’s peninsula," USDA reports. Elsewhere, only scattered showers will affect the Midwest, while 1- to 2-inch totals will be common in the Pacific Northwest and the middle and northern Atlantic states, according to USDA. Some higher totals may occur in New England, USDA adds.