Showers and Thunderstorms Linger from Colorado and Kansas Southward

USDA's Joint Ag Weather Facility says on the Plains, beneficial weekend precipitation fell across the southern half of the region, although amounts were not uniform and a few pockets of large hail were reported. "Currently, showers and thunderstorms linger from Colorado and Kansas southward, helping to boost topsoil moisture and ease stress on winter wheat," USDA reports.

In the West, USDA says record-setting warmth continues to promote fieldwork and crop development across the interior Northwest. In contrast, widely scattered showers dot the southern half of the western U.S., USDA adds.

In the Corn Belt, USDA says chilly, breezy conditions prevail. "A few snow showers are occurring in the upper Great Lakes region, while locally heavy rain is falling in the Ohio Valley," USDA continues.

In the South, USDA reports showers and thunderstorms have spread as far east as the Mississippi Delta. "Rain is becoming locally heavy in parts of the mid-South, including the Ozark Plateau," USDA explains. In contrast, dry weather and warmer conditions favor Southeastern fieldwork, USDA continues. "However, monitoring activities continue in portions of the interior Southeast and the southern Mid-Atlantic States, following weekend freezes that may have adversely affected some fruit and nursery crops," USDA details.

In its outlook, USDA says a storm system currently passing north of the Great Lakes region will move into eastern Canada by Tuesday. "At the same time, a trailing cold front will cross the eastern U.S. Additional rainfall could reach 1 to 2 inches across portions of the South, East, and lower Midwest, with locally higher amounts in the central Gulf Coast States," USDA explains. In contrast, it says dry weather will prevail through week’s end in the upper Midwest. Farther west, scattered showers will dot the West through mid-week, USDA continues. "Thereafter, a new storm will arrive, with precipitation totals of 1 to 3 inches possible in the Pacific Northwest, northern Rockies, and northern Intermountain West," according to USDA. Late in the week, precipitation will begin to overspread the Plains, it adds. "Elsewhere, warmth in the Northwest will be replaced by cooler conditions, while above-normal temperatures will return to the nation’s mid-section," USDA details.