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Drought concerns persist in northern Midwest and Plains

This week’s US Drought Monitor shows some relief from recent rain and snowfall, but drought conditions persist in the northern Midwest and Plains.

Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Nebraska saw some decreases in drought severity this past week, but aside from southeast Nebraska, the map has those states covered in abnormal, moderate, and severe drought.

Dennis Todey with USDA’s Midwest Climate Hub tells Brownfield, “An indication of how soils were in that area were despite all that rainfall, there was limited flooding.”

Much of Iowa is in the clear, but farmers in the northwest corner currently have the driest conditions in the Midwest, categorized as extreme drought. And Todey says the Great Lakes region didn’t get much precipitation either.

“So they continue with in the Plains some very serious drought issues still going on and the eastern part of the Corn Belt is dry, but not too many serious issues just yet.”

As of Tuesday, moderately dry conditions are seen in northeast Missouri, through central Illinois into northern Indiana and Ohio and much of Michigan.

Aside from a few patches of abnormally dry areas in northern Arkansas and along the Mississippi River, the Delta region has minimal drought concerns as planting approaches.