Cold & dry across the Corn Belt
Across the Corn Belt, cold, dry weather prevails in the wake of a departing storm. Low temperatures ranged from 5 to 10° Thursday morning in much of the northwestern Corn Belt. Following recent rainfall, wet fields continue to limit late-season harvest activities in parts of the eastern Corn Belt.
On the Plains, cool, dry weather prevails, except for a return to mild, breezy conditions in Montana. Thursday morning’s temperatures fell below 20° across parts of the southern High Plains, and dipped below 10° in the Dakotas. Cotton, peanut, and sorghum harvest activities continue on the southern Plains.
In the South, recovery efforts are underway in areas struck by a mid-November severe weather outbreak. Isolated deadly tornadoes occurred on Wednesday in the Carolinas, while scattered reports of wind damage were noted from Alabama to Virginia. Thunderstorms continue Thursday morning across Florida’s peninsula.
In the West, showers are spreading inland from the Pacific Northwest to the northern Rockies. Elsewhere, mild, dry weather favors fieldwork, including cotton harvesting in California and Arizona.
A surge of very cold air will arrive in Montana on Friday and expand across the northern and central Plains, upper Midwest, and much of the West during the weekend. Sub-zero temperatures can be expected on the northern Plains, while light freezes may occur as far south as California’s San Joaquin Valley. Snow will precede and accompany the surge of cold air across the nation’s northern tier from the Cascades to the upper Great Lakes region.
Meanwhile, weekend warmth will overspread areas along and east of a line from the southern Plains to the lower Great Lakes region.
By early next week, locally heavy rain will erupt from the southeastern Plains into the Mid-South.
Looking ahead, the 6- to 10-day outlook for November 22-26 calls for above-normal temperatures from the Plains to the East Coast, while near- to below-normal temperatures will prevail in the West. Meanwhile, above-normal precipitation in the Pacific Coast States, Great Basin, northern Intermountain West, and from the southeastern Plains into the Mid-Atlantic States will contrast with drier-than-normal conditions in the southern Atlantic region and from the Southwest to the northern and central Plains and the upper Midwest.