USDA’s Joint Ag Weather Facility says in the Corn Belt, cool weather and wet fields are slowing a retu rn to fieldwork in many areas. “Frost was noted in parts of the Great Lakes region, particularly in northern sections of Michigan and Wisconsin,” USDA reports.
In the West, USDA explains lingering showers are confined to parts of Washington and Oregon. Cool weather dominates the region, especially across the Northwest. “Freeze warnings are in effect this morning in the northern Great Basin,” USDA details.
On the Plains, USDA says a chilly rain is falling across the central one-third of Montana, while strong thunderstorms are pounding south-central Texas in the vicinity of the Rio Grande. “Elsewhere, cool, dry weather prevails, except for a return to above-normal temperatures on the central High Plains,” according to USDA. Across the Northern Plains, many fields remain too wet to resume summer crop planting operations, USDA explains.
In the South, USDA reports mostly dry weather favors an acceleration of fieldwork, especially in areas—such as the Mississippi Delta —where there have been significant spring planting delays.
In its outlook USDA says a slow-moving storm system over New England will continue to produce cool, breezy, showery weather into the Memorial Day weekend. “Additional precipitation totals of 1 to 2 inches can be expected in New England,” USDA adds. Meanwhile, showers and thunderstorms will become more numerous during the weekend and early next week across the Plains and the western Corn Belt, according to USDA. “Five-day rainfall totals could reach 1 to 3 inches, with locally higher amounts, in an area centered on eastern Nebraska and western Iowa,” USDA explains. Some of the thunderstorms may be accompanied by large hail, high winds, and isolated tornadoes, according to USDA. “At the same time, there will be an elevated risk of wildfires during the holiday weekend in the Southwest, where breezy, dry conditions will prevail,” USDA continues. Elsewhere, weekend heat across the High Plains will spread eastward across the Midwest during the first half of next week, according to USDA.
