USDA’s Joint Ag Weather Facility says on the Plains, warm air continues to spread eastward, promoting winter wheat development amid recently improved soil moisture. “Today’s high temperatures could top 80°F as far north as western South Dakota,” USDA details. On the other hand, it says a frost advisory is in effect this morning in eastern parts of Kansas and Oklahoma, where cool weather lingers.
In the West, stormy weather—including gusty winds and local flooding—continues in northern and central California and the Northwest, according to USDA. “Heavy snow is falling at higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada,” USDA reports. In contrast, warm, dry weather favors Southwestern fieldwork and crop development, it continues.
In the Corn Belt, USDA says snow showers linger across the lower Great Lakes region. “Meanwhile, a frost advisory is in effect early today in the southwestern Corn Belt, including much of Missouri,” USDA reports. In contrast, mild air is spreading across the far upper Midwest, it adds.
In the South, sharply cooler air continues to arrive on gusty winds. “A frost advisory is in effect early today across par ts of the Ozark Plateau,” USDA elaborates. Meanwhile, recovery efforts continue in areas affected in recent days by flash flooding and locally severe thunderstorms, it continues.
In its five-day outlook, USDA says for the remainder of the week, respective surges of cool air into the eastern and western U.S. will contrast with unusually warm weather across the nation’s mid-section. “By Saturday morning, freezes could occur as far south as the Mid-Atlantic region,” USDA adds. By early next week, it reports warm weather will return to the eastern U.S., while slightly cooler air will arrive on the Plains. Aside from lingering rain and snow showers in the Northeast, dry weather will cover the eastern half of the U.S. into the weekend. “By Sunday and Monday, however, precipitation will spread across the nation’s northern tier,” according to USDA. In addition, it says showers and thunderstorms should develop along a cold front from the eastern Corn Belt to Texas. Elsewhere, heavy precipitation in California and the Northwest will gradually subside during the weekend, USDA continues. “Additional precipitation during the next five days could total 2 to 6 inches in portions of northern California and the Pacific Northwest,” the department elaborates.
