Weather Report: Mild & Dry Across The Country
11/03/2009 09:06AM
Bookmark
Subscribe
In the West, warm, dry weather favors fieldwork—including cotton harvesting and winter wheat planting— in California and the Southwest. Northwestern winter grains are benefiting from mild, dry weather.
On the Plains, mild, dry weather is promoting late-season winter wheat planting and crop emergence and development. Conditions also favor an acceleration of corn, cotton, sorghum, and sunflower harvesting.
In the Corn Belt, dry weather and near-normal temperatures favor a limited return to fieldwork. By November 1, one-quarter (25%) of the nation’s corn was harvested, compared to the previous record-slow pace of 44% in 1992. On the same date, just over half (51%) of the nation’s soybeans were harvested—the slowest harvest pace since 1984, when harvest reached the halfway mark on November 1.
In the South, mild, dry weather is promoting a return to fieldwork, except in some of the wettest areas of eastern Texas and the Delta States. By November 1, the nation’s cotton harvest was 28% complete. The last time less than 40% of the U.S. cotton was harvested by November 1 was 1984 (35% complete).
Outlook: Dry weather will prevail for the remainder of the week across the southern half of the U.S., except for scattered showers in southern Florida. Farther north, a series of cold fronts will maintain cool conditions from the Midwest into the Northeast, along with isolated showers. Meanwhile, wet weather will gradually overspread the Pacific Northwest, where precipitation may total as much as 3 to 5 inches. Rain and snow showers will spread as far inland as the northern Rockies. Elsewhere, unusual warmth will shift eastward from the West, reaching the Plains late in the week and eastern one-third of the U.S. during the weekend. The NWS 6- to 10-day outlook for November 8-12 calls for above-normal temperatures from the Plains to the Atlantic Coast, while cooler-than-normal weather will prevail in California and the Great Basin. Meanwhile, below normal precipitation in the East will contrast with wetter-than-normal conditions in the Northwest and from the Rockies to the Mississippi Valley.
