Weather

Unseasonably mild on the Plains; more seasonal weather covers the eastern Corn Belt

Across the Corn Belt, snow showers are developing east of the Mississippi River in conjunction with an approaching cold front.  Chilly and increasingly breezy conditions in the eastern Corn Belt contrast with warmth farther west; Thursday’s high temperatures will reach 60°F or higher in much of the middle Missouri Valley.

On the Plains, unusual warmth prevails.  In fact, Thursday’s high temperatures should approach, reach, or exceed 70°F in parts of Montana, threatening all-time February records.  Along some waterways, including portions of the Platte River  in Nebraska, the mid-winter warmth is increasing the risk of ice-jam flooding.  According to the recently released USDA/NASS State Stories, winter wheat conditions were mostly stable during January, although Nebraska reported an increase (from 18 to 37%) in wheat rated very poor to poor between the end of December and the end of January.

In the South, a cold front crossing Florida’s peninsula is producing beneficial rain showers, following a period of unusually cold weather and worsening drought.  Freeze assessments continue in Florida and elsewhere across the lower Southeast, following the February 1-3 cold wave.  Meanwhile, temperatures have rebounded to near- or above-normal levels in the western Gulf Coast region, but cool conditions persist across much of the Southeast.

In the West, nearly a month of mild, mostly dry weather has broadly lowered snow-melt runoff expectations, with local and regional implications for spring and summer water supplies for irrigation, recreation, power generation, and municipal use.  Snow-water equivalencies have dropped to less than one-third of normal for this time of year in much of Oregon and portions of neighboring states, as well as several watersheds in Arizona and New Mexico.