Drought worsens across winter wheat country

Warm, dry weather favored crop maturation and harvesting across much of the country the week ending Sept. 21, though rain had moved into some areas of the Midwest that had been experiencing dryness or drought as of the cutoff date. Rains for the Upper Midwest and eastern areas of the High Plains likely arrived too late to benefit summer crops. And reduced topsoil moisture for newly planted winter grain is concerning, according to today’s National Drought Monitor. “Some of the most significant short-term dryness, aggravated by late-season heat, existed across the southern Plains,” the summary report says.

Remnants of Hurricane Nicholas continued to produce heavy rains to the south, but that contrasted notably with rapidly developing dryness and moderate to extreme drought in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. “Broad deterioration of up to one category was observed across the driest areas,” today’s update said, adding that Tulsa, Oklahoma is one of the driest areas.

Today’s update shows 79% of Oklahoma is now impacted by abnormal dryness or drought, a 25-point surge from the week prior. In Texas, dryness/drought coverage jumped 12 percentage points with 31% of the Lone Star State now affected. In Kansas, the U.S.’s top winter wheat producing state, drought coverage rose four percentage points, with 40% of the state now affected.

Drought also intensified in some Midwest states, including parts of Missouri, northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and the lower Great Lakes region.