Weather

Cooler air rushes on to the upper Midwest; rains expanding across the southern Plains, Corn Belt

Across the Corn Belt, cloudy, showery weather is causing temporary and mostly minor fieldwork delays.  In many cases, especially in the western Corn Belt, showers are improving soil moisture.  Prior to this week, on April 20, statewide topsoil moisture was rated 80% very short to short in South Dakota, along with 78% in Nebraska.  Friday’s high temperatures are forecast to range from near 60°F in the upper Midwest to 80°F in the lower Ohio Valley.

On the Plains, dry weather has temporarily returned across Texas, while showers and thunderstorms continue farther north.  Recent and ongoing rainfall across the Plains has greatly aided winter wheat at a key time of year, with benefits extending to rangeland, pastures, and emerging summer crops.  However, amid the showers, there have been localized reports of wind damage and large hail.  Early Friday, cool air has settled across much of the nation’s mid-section, with lingering warmth generally limited to Texas and parts of Oklahoma.

In the South, warm, dry weather is promoting a rapid pace of fieldwork and crop development in the Atlantic Coast States and near the Gulf Coast.  However, pockets of drought are most significant across the coastal Carolinas and peninsular Florida.  In contrast, widespread showers and thunderstorms are affecting the northern Mississippi Delta and environs.

In the West, a storm system approaching the Pacific Coast is producing a few rain and snow showers in northern California and neighboring areas.  Elsewhere, generally warm, dry weather prevails in advance of the approaching storminess.  Friday’s maximum temperatures will approach or reach 80°F as far north as eastern Washington.