Weather
Sct’d storms, heat, humidity across the Heartland
Across the Corn Belt, hot weather continues to push summer crops toward maturity. Wednesday’s high temperatures should top 90°F along and southeast of a line from Omaha, Nebraska to Detroit, Michigan, with a few readings near 100°F possible in the middle Mississippi Valley. Scattered showers are tempering the effects of the late-season heat on immature corn and soybeans. Meanwhile, cool weather prevails across the upper Midwest.
On the Plains, dry weather prevails, aside from spotty showers in South Dakota and environs. However, lingering cool weather across the northern Plains contrasts with late-summer heat on the central and southern Plains. Wednesday’s high temperatures will exceed 100°F as far north as Kansas, reducing soil moisture availability for immature summer crops.
In the South, hot weather is generally promoting late-summer fieldwork, including rice and corn harvesting. However, in the wake of recent downpours, pockets of excessive wetness persist. On August 22, USDA/NASS topsoil moisture was rated 10 to 20% surplus in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Early Wednesday, scattered showers continue in the eastern Gulf Coast region and along the southern Atlantic Coast.
In the West, serious air-quality issues persist downwind of large fires burning in northern California and the Northwest. California’s 123,000-acre Caldor Fire, burning near Lake Tahoe, has resulted in visibility as low as 1 mile in Reno, Nevada. The Dixie Fire, also in northern California, remains—at 733,000 acres—the nation’s largest active wildfire. Currently, dry weather prevails throughout the western U.S., while heat is returning across the Desert Southwest.
