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Active winter pattern could boost drought recovery in the Corn Belt

An ag meteorologist says an active winter weather pattern could go a long way for improving drought conditions in parts of the Corn Belt.

Brian Fuchs with the National Drought Mitigation Center says he’s closing watching how El Nino will set up. “If December is any indication if some of how the rest of the winter will go, then that’s what we could expect. In states like Nebraska and Iowa, you’re in a transition zone, it really depends on where the transition sets up.”

He says El Nino will bring colder temperatures and more precipitation across parts of the Midwest and Plains. But he says if it sets up further north, that could be problematic. “Do we get enough cold weather to impact any disease or pest that tries to sustain itself through the winter? Then we look at if where we might get that snow and could that snow sustain us through the winter?”

He tells Brownfield there could be some soil moisture recharge for parts of the Eastern Corn Belt including Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. “Right now their drought situation isn’t horrible, but again I definitely would like to see some improvement and that’s what the models are showing us.”

Fuchs says recent snowstorms will likely have some improvement for drought conditions since the frost layer is currently high.  

Brian Fuchs: