Weather
Favorable summer crop weather across the Midwest
Across the Corn Belt, heavy showers and locally severe thunderstorms are rolling across the upper Midwest. Elsewhere, warm, humid weather in advance of a cold front favors rapid summer crop development. On July 26, the Midwestern winter wheat harvest was nearly complete except in Michigan (49% harvested) and Ohio (81%).
On the Plains, thunderstorm activity is winding down across the Dakotas and eastern Nebraska. However, cool, rainy, breezy weather lingers across northeastern Montana. In fact, cool weather dominates the northern Plains, but hot, dry weather is stressing rain-fed summer crops across the southeastern half of the Plains.
In the South, hot, mostly dry weather is increasing stress on some pastures and dryland crops, especially in areas that have trended dry in recent weeks. In Louisiana, the portion of the rice crop rated in good to excellent condition was 57% on July 26, down from 71% a week ago. In North Carolina, 24% of the corn and 37% of the pastures were rated very poor to poor on July 26.
In the West, dry weather prevails, except for a few monsoon-related showers in Arizona and New Mexico. Cool weather lingers in the northern Intermountain West, but heat is returning to parts of the Pacific Coast States. Small grain harvest activities are racing along in the Northwest; in Washington, 63% of the winter wheat and 26% of the spring wheat was harvested by July 26, compared to the 5-year averages of 18 and 4%, respectively.
Forecast High Temperatures (National)
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