Weather

More cold weather on the move

On the Plains, a new surge of cold air is arriving. Rain and snow showers accompany and trail the cold front, which is crossing the central Plains. Pastures and recently planted winter grains in Montana are benefiting from last week’s precipitation, but extremely dry conditions persist across the remainder of the northern Plains.

Across the Corn Belt, cold weather is returning to the upper Midwest, accompanied by a few rain showers. In recent days, corn and soybean harvest activities have continued to advance at a record-setting pace in the upper Midwest, but fieldwork has been slowed by cool, damp conditions in the Ohio Valley.

In the South, cool but dry weather favors a return to fieldwork, following last week’s significant rainfall.

In the West, warm weather has returned to the interior Northwest and continues across the remainder of the region. Fieldwork, including harvest activities for rice in California and cotton in Arizona, is proceeding. However, very dry conditions in the Northwest remain a concern with respect to the germination and establishment of rain-fed winter wheat.