USDA’s Joint Ag Weather Facility says in the Corn Belt, a broken line of showers stretches from the middle Missouri Valley into the Ohio Valley. “Recent rainfall has helped to boost topsoil moisture in Midwestern areas that had been drying out,” USDA reports. On July 9, topsoil moisture was rated 65% very short to short in Nebraska, along with 40% in Iowa and 38% in Illinois, according to the department.
In the West, the monsoon circulation is becoming better established, with showers extending northward from Arizona. “Still, hot weather prevails in most areas, and more than five dozen Western wildfires are in various stages of containment. Some of the most significant fires are burning in California and the Southwest,” USDA elaborates.
On the Plains, USDA reports a cold front crossing the Dakotas is producing scattered showers. “However, a soaking rain is needed across the northern Plains to ease the effects of a punishing drought,” USDA explains. On July 9, more than half of the rangeland and pastures were rated in very poor to poor condition in North Dakota (69%), South Dakota (59%), and Montana (51%). More than two-thirds (72%) of South Dakota’s spring wheat was rated very poor to poor, it continues.
In the South, USDA says warm, humid weather favors crop development. “More than half of the soybeans were setting pods by July 9 in Louisiana (67%) and Arkansas (54%), compared to the respective 5-year averages of 49 and 28%,” according to USDA. Isolated showers are mostly limited to the lower Southeast and areas along the Gulf Coast, it adds.
In its short-term outlook, USDA says periodic showers and thunderstorms will continue to impact the eastern one-half of the U.S. Five-day rainfall totals could reach 1 to 2 inches or more from the Midwest into the Northeast and along the Gulf Coast, it details. “Showers will remain spotty on the Plains, with most of the significant rain remaining east of areas experiencing dryness or drought,” USDA reports. However, it says showers associated with the monsoon circulation could begin to spread across the central Plains during the second half of the week. “Meanwhile, dry weather will be primarily confined to the southern Plains and an area stretching from the Pacific Coast States to the northern High Plains,” USDA continues. Late in the week, another round of record-breaking heat will develop across the northern Plains and parts of the Northwest, USDA reports.
