Weather

Cool, damp weather across much of the Corn Belt

Across the Corn Belt, cool conditions are maintaining a slower-than-normal pace of corn and soybean emergence and development, especially in areas where late planting occurred. In addition, scattered showers and thunderstorms are slowing final planting efforts in the Ohio Valley and parts of the western Corn Belt.

On the Plains, widely scattered showers accompany below-normal temperatures. The showers are maintaining favorable soil moisture reserves, except near the Canadian border where some drought has developed.

In the South, warm, humid weather favors rapid crop growth. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are occurring in several areas, including southern Florida and the western Gulf Coast region.

In the West, isolated showers dot the Rockies and the Intermountain region. Several large wildfires— including the 36,000-acre Woodbury Fire near Superior, Arizona—are burning in the Southwest.