Weather

Temps moderate, conditions vary across the Heartland

Across the Corn Belt, mild weather prevails. Precipitation is confined to the upper Great Lakes region, where some light snow is falling. Many fields and feedlots are muddy in the wake of recent storminess, while a thick blanket of snow remains on the ground across the far upper Midwest, including large sections of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas.

On the Plains, mild, mostly dry weather prevails, despite widespread cloudiness. A substantial snow cover remains in place across much of the Dakotas, as well as portions of neighboring states. Farther south, winter grains from Kansas southward continue to benefit from the recent boost in topsoil moisture, primarily from a late-December storm system.

In the South, mild, rainy weather is occurring in most areas. Showers have become heavy is some locations, including parts of the Mississippi Delta and the Tennessee Valley, where flooding is possible. Rain has not yet arrived, however, along the southern Atlantic Coast

In the West, widely scattered rain and snow showers stretch from the Pacific Northwest to the northern Rockies. A few showers are also occurring in New Mexico. Elsewhere, dry weather favors winter fieldwork in California, but locally dense fog has developed again Thursday morning in parts of the Central Valley.