Weather
In some areas, Corn Belt weather stays favorable
Across the Corn Belt, spotty showers are overspreading the upper Midwest, accompanied by warmer weather. The remainder of the Corn Belt continues to experience cool, dry weather—favorable for corn and soybeans in areas where soil moisture is adequate. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 9% of the Midwest (but 45% of Iowa) was experiencing drought on August 18.
On the Plains, isolated showers are causing only minor fieldwork delays. On the northern High Plains, late-summer heat is promoting small grain maturation and harvesting. Meanwhile, drought continues to adversely affect rangeland, pastures and summer crops across the central and southern High Plains.
In the South, dry weather across the western Gulf Coast region continues to promote rice harvesting and other fieldwork. Meanwhile in the Southeast, widespread showers are causing fieldwork disruptions but maintaining adequate to locally excessive moisture supplies for pastures and immature summer crops.
In the West, California’s two largest lightning-sparked wildfire complexes—largely uncontained—continue to burn in the Coastal Range. The LNU Lightning Complex, north of the Bay Area, has charred some 215,000 acres of vegetation. The SCU Lightning Complex, east of San Jose, has scorched well over 150,000 acres. Dozens of other fires burning elsewhere in the West are contributing to widespread dense smoke and air-quality degradation.