Weather

A wide-range of mid-Summer weather, rainfall across the Heartland

Across the Corn Belt, pleasant, mostly dry weather prevails, with Tuesday’s high temperatures expected to range from 75 to 85°F.  More than two-thirds of summer crops—67% of the U.S. corn and 68% of the soybeans—were rated in good to excellent condition on August 11, as a summer without significant Midwestern heat stress continues.

On the Plains, overnight thunderstorms produced heavy rain in Kansas and portions of neighboring states.  In recent days, an unsettled pattern has benefited immature summer crops—including cotton and sorghum—as far south as the northern panhandle of Texas.  However, hot, dry weather persists across the remainder of Texas, with heat starting to build northward into Oklahoma.  Meanwhile on the northern Plains, showers are causing generally minor small grain harvest delays.

In the South, hot, humid weather stretches from the western Gulf Coast region to the southern Atlantic Coast; Tuesday’s high temperatures are expected to reach 100°F or higher in parts of eastern Texas.  The late-summer heat favors crop maturation and harvesting, with 13% of the U.S. rice crop cut by August 11.  From northeastern Florida to the eastern Carolinas, river flooding associated with last week’s passage of Hurricane Debby has mostly begun to recede.

In the West, clouds and showers extend northward from the Four Corners region, as the Southwestern monsoon circulation interacts with a Northern cold front.  Meanwhile, Northwestern fieldwork is progressing, with winter wheat harvest progress on August 11 ranging from 48% complete in Idaho to 83% complete in Oregon.