USDA’s Joint Ag Weather Facility says in the Corn Belt, showers and thunderstorms generally stretch from Michigan to Missouri. Slightly cooler air is overspreading the upper Midwest, while warm, humid conditions cover the remainder of the Corn Belt. On June 25, topsoil moisture was rated less than 20% very short to short in all Midwestern States bordering the Mississippi River eastward, except for Iowa (28%), USDA details.
In the West, USDA reports hot weather continues in the Four Corners region and is re-building across northern California and the Pacific Northwest. More than two dozen wildfires—in various stages of containment—are burning across the West. “The two largest fires, the Brian Head fire in southwestern Utah and the Frye fire in southeastern Arizona, have collectively charred nearly 100,000 acres of timber and brush,” USDA elaborates.
On the Plains, USDA says scattered showers and thunderstorms dot the northern half of the region. In areas that have received significant rain, pasture and crop conditions have stabilized. “However, core drought areas in eastern Montana and the Dakotas will require much more rain to rebound from a punishing, early-season dry spell,” USDA details. Meanwhile, hot, dry weather prevails on the southern High Plains, boosting irrigation requirements, it continues.
In the South, a broad area of shower activity lingers along the Gulf Coast and is pushing northward through Alabama and Mississippi. “The remainder of the South is experiencing dry weather—favorable for fieldwork and crop development—but also a gradual increase in heat and humidity,” according to USDA.
In its five-day outlook, USDA says a cold front crossing the Midwest, and eventually the Mid-Atlantic, will continue to generate widespread thunderstorms through Saturday. “A subsequent disturbance will result in additional showers early next week across the nation’s midsection,” it continues. Five-day rainfall totals could reach 1 to 4 inches across the Midwest and the eastern Plains, but only light showers can be expected on the northern High Plains, USDA details. Elsewhere, it says showers will linger through week’s end in the Southeast, while dry weather will accompany a return to hot weather in the Far West, as well as southern Texas. “By the weekend, heat will again cover nearly all of the western U.S.,” USDA reports.
