Weather

Summer-like across much of the Heartland

Across the Corn Belt, weather conditions remain mostly favorable for fieldwork, although cooler air had edged into the Great Lakes region. However, dryness is a concern in parts of the southwestern Corn Belt, despite a few showers in recent days. On May 13, topsoil moisture in Missouri was rated 46% very short to short.

On the Plains, scattered showers and thunderstorms are occurring early Thursday from Nebraska northward, slowing planting efforts. Above-normal temperatures cover much of the nation’s mid-section, promoting summer crop emergence and growth but maintaining stress on rangeland, pastures, and crops in drought-affected areas of the central and southern Plains.

In the South, slow-moving showers and thunderstorms are affecting the northern Mississippi Delta and environs. A separate area of rain extends through the Atlantic Coast States. The Southern rain is limiting fieldwork but improving topsoil moisture; on May 13, before a wetter pattern developed, topsoil moisture was rated at least one-half very short to short in Georgia (76%), South Carolina (73%), and Louisiana (64%).

In the West, cool weather in California and the Great Basin contrasts with above-normal temperatures in several areas, including the Pacific Northwest and the central and southern Rockies. Showers are mostly confined to the interior Northwest, where melting snowpack continues to cause local flooding.

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