USDA Reports Poor Wheat Conditions In Southern Plains

The USDA's Joint Ag Weather facility's outlook reports rain and snow showers are overspreading northern portions of the Plains, accompanied by milder weather. Meanwhile, warm, unfavourably dry conditions persist on the southern Plains. Earlier this week the USDA rated nearly half (46 percent) of the Texas winter wheat crop in very poor to poor condition, up from 16 percent on November 23. Similarly, one-fifth of Oklahoma’s wheat was rated very poor to poor on January 3, up from 6 percent on November 23.

In the West, a warmer weather pattern is melting snow, especially at low elevations. In parts of the Pacific Northwest, the combination of melting snow and heavy rain is increasing the threat of flooding.

In the Corn Belt, cold weather prevails across the winter-weary upper Midwest, where yesterday morning’s low temperatures were near or below 0 degrees F. Farther east, rain is changing to snow showers across the eastern Corn Belt in the wake of a departing storm system.

In the South, showers and thunderstorms are spreading across the southern Atlantic States. However, dry conditions persist across Florida’s peninsula, where irrigation continues. Following yesterday’s heavy rain, local flooding persists from the lower Mississippi Valley into the southern Appalachians.