USDA’s Joint Ag Weather Facility says In the Corn Belt, a frost advisory is in effect early today in parts of the eastern Dakotas and northwestern Minnesota, where low temperatures generally ranged from 30°F to 40°F. “Meanwhile, a band of generally light rain stretching from Upper Michigan to near the Iowa-Missouri-Nebraska triple point is slowing fieldwork but benefiting drought-stressed pastures,” USDA explains.
In the West, USDA says temperatures are rebounding to above-normal levels, especially across the northwestern half of the region. “Cool conditions and a few showers linger in the southern Rockies,” it adds.
On the Plains, cool weather prevails, except for a return of above-normal temperatures to Montana’s High Plains, according to USDA. “From the southern High Plains to southeastern Nebraska, rain is boosting topsoil moisture for newly planted winter wheat and aiding drought-stressed rangeland and pastures,” USDA elaborates.
In the South, USDA says mild, mostly dry weather favors crop maturation and fieldwork, including harvest activities for a variety of summer crops.
In its outlook, USDA says during the next few days, active weather will continue in the vicinity of a cold front. “Showers will be especially numerous along the slow-moving tail (southern portion) of the front, where five-day rainfall totals could reach 2 to 4 inches in parts of Oklahoma and Texas,” USDA reports. Locally heavy showers will also develop in the vicinity of the Gulf Coast, according to USDA. In the Midwest, however, rainfall totals will be generally less than an inch, USDA adds. “By early next week, rain will begin to surge northward across the Southeast, where 1 to 2 inches can be expected. In contrast, dry conditions will prevail into next week across the northwestern half of the Plains and much of the West,” USDA explains. During the weekend, heat will temporarily return to the northern Plains and upper Midwest, USDA says. But it continues, “Early next week, however, chilly conditions will return to the Plains and Midwest.”
