Weather

Hot weather continues on the far southern Plains; comfortable temps cover the Corn Belt

Across the Corn Belt, dry weather prevails, while Monday’s high temperatures are expected to range from 75 to 85°F.  With Midwestern corn and soybean development mostly at or ahead of the normal pace, this week’s cool weather should not be a major concern.  However, warmth is still needed across the far upper Midwest, where crop development lags the normal pace.  In Minnesota, 64% of the soybeans were setting pods on August 11, versus the 5-year average of 81%.

On the Plains, record-breaking heat is maintaining stress on rangeland, pastures, and immature summer crops across much of Texas and parts of Oklahoma.  On Sunday, August 18, a daily-record high temperature of 111°F was noted in Lawton, Oklahoma.  For Lawton, it was the highest reading since September 8, 2023.  Elsewhere, above-normal temperatures on the northern Plains are promoting small grain maturation and harvesting, while cooler air is overspreading the central Plains.  A few showers are developing early Monday across Montana.

In the South, thunderstorms in the Gulf Coast region are tempering the heat but maintaining very humid conditions.  However, extreme heat persists across much of eastern Texas, where Monday’s high temperatures away from the immediate coast should generally range from 100 to 105°F.  In contrast, pleasant, mostly dry weather across the interior Southeast favors summer crop maturation and early-season harvest efforts for crops such as corn.

In the West, the Southwestern monsoon circulation has become re-established and is interacting with a frontal boundary draped across the northern High Plains.  Consequently, clouds and a few showers extend northward from the Four Corners region.  Meanwhile, dry weather in the Far West favors fieldwork and crop development