Cold and Warm Battling for Central US This Week
Cold air in the East and warm air in the West are doing a battle in the middle of the country with clippers moving through, and continued overall good weather in South America are the weather factors driving the markets Monday.
MINNEAPOLIS (DTN) — Cold air in the East and warm air in the West are doing a battle in the middle of the country with clippers moving through, and continued overall good weather in South America are the weather factors driving the markets Monday.
COLD WITH LAKE-EFFECT SNOW FOR MIDWEST, CHANGES THIS WEEKEND
Lake-effect snow was very heavy in the Midwest over the weekend and a small clipper brought a concentrated area of moderate snow to the south on Saturday. Another clipper is moving through similar areas on Monday. A larger clipper will move across the Canadian border and another burst of colder air will drop through behind it for the end of the week. Temperatures will bounce around more frequently as clippers move through the region this weekend and next week. One of those may be a bigger storm with more widespread precipitation early next week, though.
VARIABLE TEMPERATURES IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PLAINS
Though a few showers fell in the northeast this weekend, most areas of the Central and Southern Plains were dry. A burst of showers will go through eastern Texas on Wednesday, but dry conditions are likely most of this week. Temperatures will waffle around as clippers go by to the north and a larger system may go through Sunday into Monday that may or may not have widespread precipitation with it.
SHIFTING TEMPERATURES IN THE NORTHERN PLAINS
Some light snow moved through the Northern Plains over the weekend, but arctic cold temperatures have frozen the ground. Without a serious and long-lasting warmup, the precipitation that falls will be counted on to build a snowpack for spring and not have much impact on the current drought situation. Temperatures will waffle around quite a bit this week and next, but generally it will be too cold to raise soil temperatures enough. Several waves of lighter showers will move through, mostly as snow. The best chance for moderate precipitation will occur on Sunday and could be a mix of rain and snow.
MISSISSIPPI RIVER STILL SAGGING LOWER
Water levels on the Mississippi River are above the low mark, but are still falling. Several clippers are moving through the region, but the potential for heavy rain and snow is not in the forecast. There could be a significant system that moves through on Monday or Tuesday of next week, but models are uncertain about it. If it does not occur, a return to low water levels could lead to transportation issues.
HEAVIER RAIN FOR BRAZIL
Scattered showers continue in central Brazil. Another front will move through southern areas with heavier rainfall early this week with another for the weekend. Overall, conditions are still largely favorable for developing corn and soybeans.
SOME DRYNESS CONCERNS IN ARGENTINA
A front brought scattered showers through Argentina over the weekend, which is exiting to the north on Monday. Some good rain fell in portions of the drier south, but plenty of areas were missed. Another front moves through Thursday through Saturday with more scattered showers. Most areas have good growing conditions, but there are some areas in the south that are too dry. If the late-week front disappoints, it could be more concerning as the pattern will tend to be drier afterward.
SCATTERED SHOWERS MOVING THROUGH EUROPE
Scattered showers continued in southeastern Europe over the weekend, hitting some of the driest areas on the continent with good rainfall. Several fronts will move through the continent this week and next, allowing for quite a lot of precipitation for France, Germany and the UK. Some of these areas are too wet as winter wheat continues to go dormant with patches that are too wet.
RECENT HEAVY RAINFALL IN EASTERN AUSTRALIA
Scattered showers continued in eastern Australia over the weekend and another system will move through those same areas over the next few days. Another system may move through late in the week with more showers for the east as well. Recent heavy rain has significantly improved soil moisture, but is leading to harvest problems for the remaining wheat and canola. Western areas are much drier though and could use some rain.
John Baranick can be reached at john.baranick@dtn.com
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