by Tyne Morgan, AgWeb.com
Conditions are dry across the Corn Belt, and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) seasonal drought outlook shows the eastern Corn Belt could continue to get drier through the summer months.
The updated Seasonal Drought Monitor was just released late last week and provides a snapshot of likely conditions from June 15 through September 30. This updated Monitor indicates dryness and drought will continue to expand across eastern Missouri, eastern Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
NOAA also sees drought conditions developing across more of Illinois, northern Wisconsin and northern Michigan.
“Drier, warm conditions across the Northwest promoted some drought expansion across the Cascades and coastal Washington,” NOAA indicated in the outlook this week. “East of the Plains, a persistent blocking pattern promoted persistently below-normal rainfall, resulting in a rapid onset of drought and abnormal dryness across much of the Corn Belt, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.”
Read More: Drought Concerns Grow as 57% of Corn, 51% of Soybeans in the U.S. Now Considered to Be in Drought
As a result, NOAA says more widespread drought development is anticipated for the central Corn Belt, Great Lakes Region and into western New York.
“Long-range forecasts are favoring below-normal precipitation and above-normal temperatures,” says NOAA. “Forecast confidence is very low for the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, as periods of rainfall may help prevent further degradation, but low stream flows and soil moisture content ahead of the climatologically hottest month of the year will be tough to completely overcome.”
To read the entire report click here.
