Weather

Heat wave conditions the central, southern Plains; scattered storms across the Corn Belt

Across the Corn Belt, heat has crept into the Missouri Valley, but mild, showery weather covers the remainder of the region.  Early Tuesday, some of the most significant rain is falling in the upper Midwest.  Patchy drought has developed in parts of the eastern Corn Belt, with Ohio reporting topsoil moisture rated 62% very short to short on July 28.  Still, more than two-thirds of U.S. corn (68%) and soybeans (67%) were rated in good to excellent condition on that date.

On the Plains, hot weather prevails, with spotty showers occurring from Nebraska northward.  Tuesday’s high temperatures will top 100°F as far north as western South Dakota.  Diminishing soil moisture and elevated temperatures are stressing immature summer crops but promoting Northern small grain harvesting.  On July 28, topsoil moisture on the Plains was rated at least one-third very short to short in all states except North Dakota and South Dakota.

In the South, warm, humid weather prevails.  However, dry weather from eastern Texas to the Mississippi Delta contrasts with showery conditions farther east.  Southeastern drought has markedly improved, but unfavorably dry conditions linger in the mid-Atlantic, where Virginia’s topsoil moisture was rated 49% very short to short on July 28.

In the West, a cold front crossing the northern Rockies is generating a few showers.  Meanwhile, showers associated with the Southwestern monsoon circulation are mostly limited to southeastern Arizona.  Dry weather covers the remainder of the West, although temperatures are not particularly high for this time of year.  Nearly 100 wildfires are in various stages of containment; the largest active fire—the Park Fire near Chico, California, has burned more than 373,000 acres.