Weather

Extreme heat across parts of the Nation’s heartland

On the Plains, favorably cooler weather prevails in the Dakotas. Farther south, however, heat and drought are maintaining severe stress on pastures and summer crops on the central and southern Plains. The core of extreme heat is centered over the central High Plains, where highs above 105° can be expected Monday.

Across the Corn Belt, a band of widely scattered but highly beneficial showers stretches from South Dakota into northern Ohio. However, unfavorably hot conditions persist in much of the Midwest. Monday’s maximum temperatures will again approach, reach, or exceed 100° in the southwestern Corn Belt.

In the South, a weak tropical disturbance continues to spark scattered showers across Florida’s peninsula. A few showers are also affecting the western Gulf Coast region. Elsewhere, hot, dry weather favors rapid crop development, but is stressing pastures and summer crops in areas with inadequate soil moisture.

In the West, monsoon showers are affecting the Great Basin and the Intermountain region. Elsewhere, seasonably warm weather in California’s Central Valley contrasts with cool conditions in the Northwest.