Weather

Mild weather on the western Plains

On the Plains, cool conditions linger across eastern portions of Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. Meanwhile, mild weather is returning to the High Plains, where Monday’s high temperatures will approach 70° as far north as Montana. Despite the late-season warmth, additional moisture is still needed in many areas to promote further winter wheat development.

Across the Corn Belt, cool, dry weather across the majority of the region favors late-season fieldwork. However, rain showers associated with a developing storm are spreading across the southwestern Corn Belt, including the middle Mississippi and lower Missouri Valleys.

In the South, a few rain showers are overspreading the northwestern fringe of the region, including northern Arkansas. Elsewhere, dry weather is promoting autumn fieldwork, including winter wheat planting and cotton, peanut, and soybean harvesting. Producers in the southern Mid-Atlantic States continue to assess the impacts of Hurricane Sandy’s wind and rain on unharvested crops.

In the West, isolated showers are confined to western sections of Washington and Oregon. Elsewhere, dry, unusually warm weather favors fieldwork, including cotton harvesting in Arizona and California.