News
Early winter storm expected to hit US Plains region next week
Brownfield’s meteorologist says farmers in the northern plains and northwestern corn belt should prepare for an early winter-like storm expected to hit early next week.
Greg Soulje is predicting a 50-60 degree temperature drop Monday through Tuesday bringing temperatures below freezing along with a chance for high winds and potential snow.
Parts of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado are expected to get the brunt of the storm with the greatest chance for snow in the high plains and foothills of the Rocky Mountains. But, temperature swings will also be felt further east into Nebraska and the Dakotas as recent highs of 85-95 degrees plummet to 50’s, 40’s and 30’s in key livestock areas.
He says row crop farmers in Minnesota and Nebraska should not be concerned about frost, but 30-40 mile per hour winds in the far Northwestern Corn Belt including South Dakota could down taller crops and fields with weakened stalks or root systems.
He says while an abrupt transition to winter is consistent with La Nina patterns, this system is an anomaly because wet and stormy patterns in the western and plains states are not conducive to La Nina.
Soulje says the pattern is expected to gradually transition back to milder, more seasonal conditions in the plains later next week.
