Weather

Much cooler, with an early-autumn feel across most of the Heartland

Across the Corn Belt, a cold front stretching from the lower Great Lakes region into the middle Mississippi Valley is producing only a few showers.  However, the front separates late-season warmth in the Ohio Valley from unusually cool conditions in the Great Lakes region.  With Friday’s high temperatures expected to remain below 70°F in much of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, the pace of crop development in the northern Corn Belt has slowed.

On the Plains, mostly dry weather is nearly ideal for fieldwork and summer crop maturation.  However, widespread soil moisture shortages are a concern as producers begin to plant winter wheat.  Additionally, Western warmth is starting to overspread the northern High Plains, where Friday’s high temperatures will approach 90°F in parts of Montana.

In the South, unsettled, showery weather prevails from the Mississippi Delta to the southern Atlantic Coast.  The wet weather is slowing fieldwork, including corn and rice harvesting.  A flash flood threat persists in southern Louisiana, where until recently sugarcane planting had been rapidly advancing—and was 81% complete by September 1, versus the 5-year average of just 45%.  Elsewhere, drier air is finally overspreading coastal Texas, while dry weather is promoting summer crop maturation and early-season harvesting from the Tennessee Valley into the middle Atlantic States.

In the West, dry weather accompanies late-season heat.  Friday’s high temperatures could reach 100°F or higher as far north as eastern Washington, with readings expected to top 110°F in parts of the Desert Southwest.  With topsoil moisture on September 1 rated more than 60% very short to short throughout the Northwest, concerns include a locally elevated wildfire threat and unfavorably dry conditions for the germination and establishment of newly planted winter wheat.