Short-term drying while largely cool weather covers the Heartland

Weather

Short-term drying while largely cool weather covers the Heartland

Across the Corn Belt, cool, cloudy weather prevails across the Red River Valley and the Great Lakes region.  Meanwhile, Freeze Warnings were in effect early Tuesday in the southwestern Corn Belt, including much of Iowa and northern Missouri.  Among Midwestern States, corn planting progress had reached double digits by April 24 only in Missouri and Nebraska—both with 10% planted.  U.S. corn planting, only 7% complete by April 24, is progressing at the slowest pace since 2013, although seeding was similarly slow at this point in 2018 (8% planted) and 2019 (10%).

On the Plains, cooler-than-normal conditions linger in most areas.  However, warmth is spreading across the northern High Plains.  Dry weather throughout the region favors fieldwork, except in soggy or snow-covered sections of the northern Plains.  Moderate to major flooding is underway in the Red River Valley, north of Fargo, North Dakota.  Elsewhere, more than one-quarter of the winter wheat was rated in very poor to poor condition on April 24 in each of the Plains’ seven major production states, led by Texas (78% very poor to poor), Oklahoma (48%), and Colorado (47%).

In the South, scattered showers stretch from the Tennessee Valley to southern Texas.  Early Tuesday, some of the heaviest rain is falling in Deep South Texas.  Cooler air is arriving west of the Appalachians, while warmth favors fieldwork and crop development in the southern Atlantic States.  Spring planting remains significantly delayed in parts of the lower Mississippi Valley; only 26% of the U.S. rice crop had been planted by April 24, compared to the 5-year average of 47%.

In the West, hot weather is returning across the Desert Southwest, where Tuesday’s high temperatures could locally reach or exceed 100°F.  Meanwhile, a new Pacific storm system is delivering scattered rain and snow showers across the Northwest, where below-normal temperatures persist.

.