Warm, dry outlook concerning for winter wheat producers
Warm weather is likely to continue across most of the Midwest and Plains during October, according to updated weather maps from the Climate Prediction Center (CPC). The precipitation outlook for next month is more up in the air, with CPC giving above-normal odds for wet weather in Minnesota, Wisconsin, northern Indiana, Ohio and the Southeast. The weather watcher says there are equal chances for normal, below-normal and above-normal precip across the remainder of the Midwest and Northern Plains.
There are elevated odds for below-normal precipitation from Texas to southern Nebraska, which paired with the warm outlook would accelerate the drying trend for winter wheat country. Planting of the crop is just getting started.
Unseasonable warmth shifts to the south during the October to December timeframe, with equal chances for normal, above-normal and below-normal temperatures over the 90-day stretch from the Pacific Northwest to Wisconsin and southward to northwest Nebraska and Iowa. But the rest of the country faces elevated odds for above-normal temperatures.
The precipitation forecast for the final quarter of the year continues to favor warmer-than-usual conditions for southern areas of the country and northward into South Dakota. There are elevated chances for wet conditions in northern areas of the far eastern Corn Belt. But CPC was noncommittal regarding precipitation odds for the rest of the Midwest.
