Weather

Typical fall weather across the Heartland

Across the Corn Belt, outside of a few light showers in the western Corn Belt, dry but cooler weather is allowing some fieldwork to resume. However, as of October 20, the corn harvest lags the 5-year average by more than 30 percentage points in Illinois (36 percent complete), while the soybean harvest remains more than 40 percentage points behind the 5- year average in the upper Midwest according to USDA-NASS.

On the Plains, chilly, unsettled weather in northern portions of the region is slowing winter wheat planting and emergence. In contrast, dry weather is promoting fieldwork over the central and southern Plains, though, acute short-term dryness in eastern Colorado and environs is impacting winter wheat establishment.

In the South, after recent much-needed drought-easing rainfall, sunny skies have returned to the region. While the last two weeks have featured widespread moderate to heavy rain over much of the region, areas from northern Mississippi into northwestern Georgia and south-central Tennessee remained comparatively dry.

In the West, dry, warm weather prevails, though rain and high-elevation snow linger in the northern Rockies. There remains an elevated to critical risk for wildfires in southwestern and north-central California.