Weather

Cold weather through much of the Heartland

Across the Corn Belt, cool, cloudy weather lingers across the Great Lakes region, accompanied by a few snow showers. The U.S. corn harvest has passed the halfway mark—54% complete by October 29—but progress remains at least 20 percentage points behind the respective state 5-year averages in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas.

On the Plains, generally cold conditions persist. Patches of light rain and snow are spreading across the central and southern High Plains. Across the northern Plains, where winter wheat has struggled to become well established due to drought followed by periods of rain, snow, and cold weather, only 17% of the crop was rated in good to excellent condition on October 29 in South Dakota, along with 22% in Montana.

In the South, dry weather favors fieldwork, including winter wheat planting and cotton, peanut, and soybean harvesting. East of the Mississippi River, pastures were rated at least 50% in good to excellent condition on October 29 in all Southeastern States except Virginia.

In the West, below-normal temperatures are mostly confined to coastal southern California and the central and southern Rockies. Similarly, isolated rain and snow showers are limited to the central and southern Rockies.

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