USDA: Heavy Showers to Develop in Southern Plains

warm weather is promoting some late-season winter wheat growth as far north as eastern Colorado and western Kansas. "Meanwhile, a strong cold front is bearing down on the northern Plains, preceded by light snow," USDA says.

In the West, USDA says snow showers accompany a surge of cold air into Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. "Elsewhere, mild, dry weather favors fieldwork in California and the Desert Southwest,"

In the Corn Belt, USDA says an early-season snow storm is winding down across the lower Great Lakes region. "The rain-changing-to-snow storm has resulted in an indefinite suspension of fieldwork across much of the eastern Corn Belt, where nearly one-quarter (24%) of Ohio's corn had not been harvested by Nov. 27," USDA reports.

In the South, USDA says cool, dry weather prevails in the wake of the recent storm. This morning's temperatures dipped to the freezing mark (32°F) nearly to the central Gulf Coast, according to USDA. "On Nov. 27 in the southern Atlantic States, the soybean harvest ranged from 59% to 77% complete (in South Carolina and Virginia, respectively), while winter wheat planting ranged from 70% to 89% complete (in Georgia and North Carolina, respectively)," USDA reports.

In its outlook, USDA says an area of low pressure and its attendant cold front currently over the Northwest will bring light to moderate snow to northern and central portions of the Rockies and Plains. "Precipitation will diminish as the front pushes south and east, leaving the eastern half of the nation dry and increasingly mild in the wake of a departing storm system," USDA says. During the latter half of the week, a second, stronger front will bring a reinforcing shot of cold air to the Plains, according to USDA. "As this front stalls, moisture from the Gulf coupled with an upper-air disturbance moving out of the Southwest will produce a swath of snow from the Four Corners into the central Plains and upper Midwest, while locally heavy showers develop from the Southern Plains into the central Corn Belt," USDA says.