Monday, November 2, 2009
Though radar showed some light showers early on this Monday over southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois and central Nebraska, the weather for this week all across the Nation’s midsection still looks to be far different than what we had in October…which means that it is going to be a whole lot drier. Weather systems will still have to be dealt with; in addition to the one ongoing this morning, another will arrive tomorrow in the western Corn Belt and move into eastern areas by Wednesday morning. These are going to be weak events though, with rains from today’s system being largely no more than a few hundredths of an inch and rains with the next system probably “maxing out” at around a quarter of an inch. Similar weather conditions are forecast for Thursday through the weekend: most places getting no rain, with the areas that do get rain largely being in the northeastern Corn Belt and even there the amounts should be very light. For the Plains for Kansas southward, for the southern Corn Belt, and for the Delta, I would expect that the period from now through the end of next weekend is completely rain-free. We are eventually going to see a lot warmer temperatures as well. The next four days will average out to be on the cool side of normal for the eastern Corn Belt and Delta, but normal to a bit warmer than normal over the Plains and far western Corn Belt. The Plains and western Corn Belt should really warm on Thursday though, and that warm is headed east for the weekend and into the first part of next week. The Northern Plains and northwestern Corn Belt in particular could be exceptionally warm for Thursday through about November 10. Details are lacking in how the rainfall forecast for next week plays out, but it does look like rainfall chances will be on the increase again for at least some areas starting about next Monday. Again, how big that system is, who might get the biggest amounts, and how long it might last are things that are still to be determined. For this afternoon’s harvest progress report, I would put the national soybean harvest at 48% done, and put the national corn harvest at 24% done. We should see both of those figures, but especially soybeans, be a good deal higher for next Monday’s report.
