Weather

The start of an active, moisture-laden pattern as temps vary across the Heartland

Across the Corn Belt, a warm front accompanied by showers and thunderstorms is lifting slowly northward.  The front separates much-above-normal temperatures (up to 30°F above normal, with Friday highs expected to approach 90°F) across Nebraska and the middle Mississippi River Valley from colder-than-normal conditions (highs struggling to reach 40°F) over the upper Midwest and northern Great Lakes. 

On the Plains, very warm weather prevails save for locally chilly conditions in northernmost portions of the region, where some rain and wet snow is falling.  Friday’s high temperatures will reach the upper 80s to near 90°F from Nebraska southward.  Expanding and intensifying drought in the Dakotas and over the southern half of the Plains continues to adversely impact winter wheat, rangeland, and pastures.

In the South, moderate to heavy rainfall fueled by a subtropical air mass continues across the western Gulf Coast.  While the rain has provided sorely-needed relief from Exceptional Drought (D4) in southern Texas, locally excessive showers falling on parched soils has exacerbated the flooding.  Showers—albeit not as heavy—are advancing slowly eastward into the Delta.  Conversely, dry and warm weather favors winter grain development from Florida into the Mid-Atlantic.  

In the West, rain and mountain snow showers continue from northern California and the Pacific Northwest into the northern Rockies.  Elsewhere, dry weather accompanies slightly cooler albeit still above-normal temperatures.  A large swath of Severe to Exceptional Drought (D2-D4) extends from the southern Great Basin into the Southwest.