In the West, unusually warm weather west of the Rockiescontinues to promote fieldwork and rapid crop development, but is causing concern due to premature melting of high-elevation snow packs.
On the Plains, cold air continues to pour southward on northerly winds. However, cold weather does not yet pose a threat to jointing and heading winter wheat on the central and southern Plains; this morning’s readings below 20 degrees F were confined to northern crop areas from Montana to Nebraska.
In the Corn Belt, cold, windy weather and soggy fields are stressing livestock and hampering spring fieldwork. Temperatures as low as 10 degrees F were reported this morning in the upper Midwest.
In the South, beneficial showers linger across southern Florida, but cool, dry weather prevails elsewhere. Temperatures near the freezing mark (32 degrees F) were confined to the northern fringe of the region, including Tennesseeand North Carolina, but colder air continues to overspread the South.
Outlook: Cold air surging southward out of Canadawill encompass much of the central and eastern U.S.into early next week. The coldest weather can be expected during the weekend; freeze warnings are in effect as far south as most of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and parts of western Florida. Crops most vulnerable to the cold weather include emerged corn across the South, jointing and heading winter wheat from the central and southern Plains into the Southeast, and blooming fruit trees in the South. On Sunday morning, April 8, temperatures may fall below 10 degrees F as far south as northwestern Kansas, below 20 degrees F as far south as parts of Oklahoma, Tennessee, and northern Arkansas, and below 30 degrees F deep into Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Elsewhere, a storm system will develop across the nation’s mid-section by early next week, when rain and snow will spread across the Midwestand thunderstorms will erupt farther south. The NWS 6- to 10-day outlook for April 11-15 calls for below-normal temperatures nationwide, except for near- to above-normal temperatures across the nation’s southern tier. Meanwhile, wet weather along the East Coast and across the nation’s northwestern quadrant will contrast with near- to below-normal rainfall elsewhere.
