Weather

Cool, dry weather, for now, across much of the Corn Belt

Across  the Corn Belt, a Frost Advisory was in effect early Monday across portions of the Great Lakes region, including northern Lower Michigan. Cool, dry weather covers the remainder of the Midwest, except for some rain in eastern Nebraska and environs. Midwestern corn and soybean planting operations are progressing as field conditions permit. The Mississippi River crest has passed Louisiana, Missouri, where Sunday’s high-water mark—12.72 feet above flood stage—was the second-highest level on record behind 13.40 feet in July 1993.

On the Plains, showers and thunderstorms stretch from eastern Nebraska to central Texas, perpetuating a slow fieldwork pace. Mild, humid weather accompanies the rain. Meanwhile, warm, dry weather covers the northern High Plains, favoring late-season planting and promoting a rapid pace of crop development.

In the South, the record-setting Arkansas River crest is in the vicinity of Morrilton, Arkansas, where the water level is more than a foot higher than the April 1927 high-water mark. In stark contrast, short-term drought continues to develop across the lower Southeast, although temperatures have fallen to near-normal values.

In the West, cool conditions linger from California to the southern Rockies, maintaining a slower-than-normal pace of crop development. In contrast, warm, dry weather covers the northern Rockies and neighboring areas.