Weather
Brief period of calm weather returns to the Heartland
Across the Corn Belt, cool, mostly cloudy weather prevails in the wake of a departing storm system. In addition, rain and snow showers linger across the eastern Corn Belt. On March 27, prior to the most recent precipitation event, topsoil moisture ranged from one-quarter to one-half surplus in Michigan (50% surplus), Ohio (48%), Indiana (44%), and Illinois (31%).
On the Plains, temperatures are quickly rebounding across Texas, where Friday’s high temperatures will exceed 80°F in western, central, and southern sections of the state. Meanwhile, cool weather covers the northwestern half of the Plains. Additionally, an atmospheric disturbance is producing some light precipitation, mainly in Nebraska and South Dakota.
In the South, cool, dry weather trails the passage of a cold front, which is currently crossing Florida’s peninsula. Showers and thunderstorms continue across central and southern Florida. Meanwhile, several brushfires have flared in recent days across southern Texas, where the Borrega Fire has scorched approximately 46,000 acres of vegetation west of Kingsville.
In the West, scattered snow showers are generally confined to the central Rockies and environs. April 1 marks the unofficial end of the Western snow-accumulation season, with only a few basins—mainly in the central Rockies and across northwestern Montana—reporting near-average snowpack for the date. Significantly below-average snow-water equivalencies are common from Oregon and California into the Great Basin, Intermountain West, and Southwest.