Weather

Rains advance northward into the southern Midwest

On the Plains, generally light rain is providing limited drought relief in parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, and northern Texas. Meanwhile, mild, dry weather persists on the northern Plains, although cooler air is beginning to arrive in Montana.

Across the Corn Belt, light rain is spreading across the southern tier of the region, including Missouri and southern portions of Illinois and Indiana. Mild weather continues to melt or eliminate snow cover. Current snow depths in the upper Midwest include 3 inches at both Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Des Moines, Iowa.

In the South, heavy showers and locally severe thunderstorms are rolling across the lower Mississippi Valley, where some flooding is underway. Heavy rain has ended across Texas, while warm, dry weather favors fieldwork—including Florida’s citrus and sugarcane harvests—in the southern Atlantic region.

In the West, scattered rain and snow showers are occurring along and northwest of a line from California to Idaho. Meanwhile, mild, dry weather prevails in the Southwest.