Weather

A winter “feel” for many; the “look” of winter for some

Across the Corn Belt, cold, blustery weather prevails.  Snow showers and squalls are raging downwind of the Great Lakes, mainly across Michigan, although flurries extend as far south as the Ohio Valley.  Friday’s high temperatures should range from around 10°F in the Red River Valley of the North to near 40°F in the middle Mississippi Valley.

On the Plains, dry weather accompanies below-normal temperatures.  In fact, temperatures plunged below 0°F early Friday in much of North Dakota and portions of neighboring states.  Given the arrival of cold weather, further development of winter wheat on the northern Plains is unlikely, amid drought-related emergence delays.  In South Dakota, where coverage of Extreme Drought (D3) exceeded 10% on the latest U.S. Drought Monitor, only 86% of the wheat had emerged by November 24, with 32% of the state’s crop rated in very poor to poor condition on that date.

In the South, a cold front is draped across Florida’s peninsula.  The front, which is producing rain showers across the lower Southeast, separates warm, humid conditions in southern Florida from markedly cooler air farther north.  Freeze Warnings for Saturday morning have already been issued across the Southeast, extending as far south as the panhandle of Florida.  Any impacts from the upcoming cold spell should be limited, aside from a curtailment of pasture growth.

In the West, any lingering warmth is confined to the Desert Southwest, where Friday’s high temperatures will approach 75°F.  Cool, dry weather covers the remainder of the West, although dense fog is being reported early today in parts of California’s Central Valley and the Northwest.  Due to storminess in recent weeks, many high-elevation areas of the West—except in Arizona and parts of the northern Rockies—have well-established snowpacks.