Weather
Largely dry, cooler weather settles into the Corn Belt
Across the Corn Belt, dry weather and cooler-than-normal conditions prevail in the wake of a cold front’s passage, maintaining mostly favorable growing conditions. On July 26, nearly three-quarters (72%) of the U.S. corn and soybeans were rated in good to excellent condition, despite lingering pockets of Midwestern dryness and crop stress.
On the Plains, showers and thunderstorms in the vicinity of a cold front are heaviest across parts of Oklahoma and northern Texas. Rangeland, pastures, and summer crops across the southern Plains are benefiting from cooler weather and recent soil moisture improvements. In Texas, for example, 23% of the cotton crop was rated in very poor to poor condition on July 26, compared to 41% very poor to poor just 2 weeks ago.
In the South, disorganized tropical moisture along and near the Gulf Coast continues to generate locally heavy rain. Meanwhile, a cold front entering the northwestern fringe of the region (e.g. Kentucky) is generating a broken line of showers. Other areas of the South are experiencing warm, humid weather. Southern growing conditions remain mostly favorable, with 76% of the U.S. rice and 74% of the peanuts rated in good to excellent condition on July 26.
In the West, a disturbance over the northern Intermountain region is generating scattered showers. Much of the remainder of the region is experiencing hot, dry weather. The Northwestern winter wheat harvest is progressing under mostly favorable conditions, led by Oregon, where the harvest was 37% complete on July 26.
