Much cooler air settles into the Heartland

Weather

Much cooler air settles into the Heartland

Across the Corn Belt, widespread showers accompany a strong cold front, which currently stretches from Lake Huron into the lower Ohio Valley. The rain is disrupting fieldwork, including harvest activities, which until recently had been advancing with few delays. In the front’s wake, chilly, breezy weather covers the western Corn Belt.

On the Plains, cool, dry, breezy weather prevails. Freezes were noted Monday morning in parts of southeastern Wyoming and northeastern Colorado. Fieldwork continues throughout the region; nationally, the sorghum harvest was 27% complete by September 20, while one-fifth of the intended winter wheat acreage had been planted. According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor, statewide drought coverage on the Plains ranges from just under 10% in Kansas to 99% in Colorado.

In the South, a cold front cutting across the Mississippi Delta is producing locally heavy showers and thunderstorms. In advance of the front, warm, humid, showery weather prevails in the Southeast. Fieldwork in much of the South has been slowed or stalled for several days, first by the remnants of Tropical Storm Beta and now by the cold front.

In the West, dangerous wildfire conditions returned across parts of California during the weekend, fanning several new fires. Two of the new blazes, the Glass Fire in Napa County and the Zogg Fire in Shasta County, were first reported on Sunday and have resulted in evacuation orders. Many other areas in California and southwestern Oregon remain at a heightened risk of wildfires due to strong offshore flow (easterly winds), extreme heat, and low humidity levels.

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