Rains in the S. Corn Belt, heat builds on the N. Plains

Weather

Rains in the S. Corn Belt, heat builds on the N. Plains

Across the Corn Belt, lingering showers are confined to the Ohio and middle Mississippi Valleys. Dry weather covers the remainder of the Midwest. Heat has begun to build across drought-affected sections of the upper Midwest, where Thursday’s high temperatures should range from 90 to 95°F. By June 27, one-tenth to one-quarter of the soybeans were blooming—2 to 11 percentage points ahead of average—in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota.

On the Plains, intensifying heat across Montana and the Dakotas—accompanied by ongoing drought—is another blow to filling winter wheat and spring-sown crops. On June 27 in South Dakota, 68% of the rangeland and pastures; 50% of the winter wheat; 49% of the spring wheat; 45% of the oats; 31% of the sorghum; 25% of the corn; and 23% of the soybeans were rated in very poor to poor condition. Meanwhile, rain is causing some winter wheat harvest disruptions on the central and southern Plains—but maintaining mostly favorable moisture reserves for summer crops.

In the South, warm, humid weather favors a rapid pace of crop development. Showers and thunderstorms are most heavily concentrated across Florida and from the mid-South into the Tennessee Valley.

In the West, above-normal temperatures persist, although the heat is being tempered in some areas by clouds and isolated showers. However, moisture availability for rain-fed crops remains abysmal, with 88% of the 11-state Western region experiencing drought (D1 to D4) and 53% enduring extreme to exceptional drought (D3 to D4), according to the June 29 U.S. Drought Monitor. Currently, about four dozen wildfires are active across the West; lightning could spark new fires.

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