Weather
Late-season heat builds across the Heartland
Across the Corn Belt, showers and thunderstorms are confined to the upper Midwest. In advance of an approaching cold front, Midwestern temperatures (and humidity) have rebounded to near- or above-normal levels. The warmth is promoting summer crop development, although pockets of drought continue to adversely affect some corn and soybeans.
On the Plains, warm, mostly dry weather favors fieldwork and summer crop maturation. Across the northern Plains, harvest of crops such as barley and spring wheat continues. Meanwhile, drought impacts to rangeland, pastures, and immature summer crops remain greatest on the High Plains from Wyoming to Texas.
In the South, rapidly weakening Tropical Storm Marco is moving across the northern Gulf of Mexico. Early Monday morning, Marco was centered about 85 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, moving toward the northwest at 10 mph. Sustained winds in squalls northeast of the center are near 50 mph. The primary threats in the central Gulf Coast region from Marco are flash flooding from locally heavy showers and a 2- to 4-foot storm surge.
In the West, California’s two largest lightning-sparked wildfire complexes have grown to near-record proportions. The LNU Lightning Complex, north of the Bay Area and a little over 20% contained, has charred nearly 350,000 acres of vegetation. The SCU Lightning Complex, east of San Jose, has scorched 344,000 acres and is 10% contained. The only larger wildfire in modern California history was the 459,123-acre Mendocino Complex in July 2018. Currently, dry thunderstorms (and ignition of new fires) remain a threat from northern California to the northern and central Rockies.
