Weather

A mid-winter look / feel continues for some; a spring-like across most of the Plains

Across the Corn Belt, cold air—accompanied by snow showers—remains in place from the upper Mississippi Valley into the lower Great Lakes States.  Meanwhile, warm weather is returning across the southwestern Corn Belt, including Nebraska and much of Missouri.  Deep snow and lingering cold conditions are maintaining stress on some upper Midwestern livestock, especially in areas where lambing or calving operations are proceeding.

On the Plains, warmth has replaced previously cool conditions, except in the eastern Dakotas.  Wednesday’s high temperatures will top 70°F as far north as southeastern Montana and should exceed 80°F throughout the southern half of the High Plains.  Wildfire activity remains a threat in some areas, particularly across western Nebraska, where last week’s fires already burned well over 700,000 acres of cured vegetation.

In the South, a warming trend has commenced west of the Mississippi Delta.  In the Southeast, however, freezes were observed again Wednesday morning as far south as northern Florida, with possible implications for winter grains, blooming fruits, and already emerged spring-sown crops.  On Tuesday, daily-record minimum temperatures included 19°F in Fayetteville, Arkansas; 26°F in Anniston, Alabama; 27°F in Jackson, Mississippi; and 32°F in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 

In the West, an early-season heat wave is expanding and intensifying.  Wednesday’s high temperatures will exceed 90°F in much of California’s Central Valley and could reach 105°F in parts of the Desert Southwest.  Prematurely melting snow from California to the central and southern Rockies may contribute to a longer Western wildfire season and could lead to more extensive summer water shortages than previously expected.