USDA’s Joint Ag Weather Facility says in the Corn Belt, showers stretch from Michigan southward into the lower Ohio Valley, benefiting immature summer crops. “Cool weather lingers across much of the Midwest,” it adds.
In the West, USDA reports mostly dry weather accompanies late-season heat. “Hot weather is especially prominent in northern California and the Northwest, where today’s inland temperatures will exceed 100°F in some locations,” USDA elaborates.
On the Plains, a late-season heat wave continues across Montana and the western Dakotas, maintaining significant stress on already drought-ravaged rangeland and pastures. “Mostly dry weather prevails throughout the Plains, favoring fieldwork activities such as winter wheat planting preparations,” USDA continues.
In the South, USDA reports slow-moving Tropical Storm Harvey is straddling the Texas coast near Port O’Connor with maximum sustained winds near 40 mph. “Extreme rainfall has temporarily shifted toward the Texas-Louisiana border, although massive flooding continues in the wake of 10- to 30-inch rainfall totals in the entire Houston metropolitan area and surrounding counties to the north and west,” USDA elaborates. Elsewhere, showers are spreading eastward across the lower Mississippi Valley, while a potential tropical cyclone is forming near the Georgia coast, it continues.
In its outlook, USDA says Tropical Storm Harvey will spend a day or two over the northwestern Gulf of Mexico before finally accelerating northeastward, but significant re-development is not expected because the storm’s inner core has been disrupted. “Nevertheless, the risk of life-threatening flooding will continue in southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana, with as much as 10 to 20 inches of additional rain expected to fall through midweek,” USDA details. Meanwhile, a disturbance near the southern Atlantic Coast could become Tropical Storm Irma within a day or two, USDA continues. “Regardless of development, southern Mid-Atlantic coastal areas can expect 3 to 9 inches of rain, along with wind gusts above 40 mph, rough surf, and battering waves,” the department elaborates. Elsewhere, hot weather across the northern High Plains and much of the West will contrast with ongoing cool conditions farther east, USDA continues.
