The Fastline Blog

Friday July 22, 2011:  It was Nebraska, Iowa far northern/far northwestern Illinois, and southwestern Wisconsin that had the rains over the past 24 hours, and by no coincidence it was that same area that saw significant relief from heat yesterday. Southern and eastern parts of the Midwest were again very hot yesterday with highs above [...]

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Thursday July 21, 2011: Temperatures in general fell a bit short of my expectations yesterday in the Midwest, but make no mistake that it was a hot one with highs most everywhere reaching 95 or higher a few spots making 100 degrees. Rockford, IL had not made it to 100 degrees for 22 years…then reached [...]

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Wednesday July 20, 2011: It was pretty easy to find highs of 95 degrees or higher yesterday in the Midwest, and for places like Huron, Topeka, Moline, Waterloo, and Rockford, the mercury actually rose to 100 degrees or higher (102 at Waterloo; the 100 degree reading at Rockford tied a record for the date and [...]

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Tuesday July 19, 2011: A notable decline in national corn and soybean crop ratings for the week ending July 17 shows the impact of the dryness that has been seen over the past several weeks in parts of the Midwest and the heat that has set up in the region since the middle of the [...]

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Monday, July 18, 2011: Heat became a big story in Midwest weather over the weekend, and if anything it will become an even bigger story for this work-week period. On every day through Friday I think that the bulk of the Midwest is at least 90 degrees for highs, but a lot of areas in [...]

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Friday, July 15, 2011: At a time when the corn and soybean markets are worried about conditions drying out in the Midwest (with good reason, I might add), it is ironic that there is a small but key part of the growing region that is very wet right now. More big rains the past 24 [...]

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Thursday, July 14, 2011: An extended period of hot and humid weather is fast approaching. A hugh ridge of high pressure in the upper atmosphere will intensify over the middle of the nation beginning late this week and weekend and extending into the early part of next week or longer. High temperatures will reach the [...]

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Some of you are spraying crops, some of you are putting away your planters, some of you are thinking about digging out your combine for pre-harvest maintenance. Here are some random, odd-ball things to consider (or not): -I’ve seen a couple photos on the internet of high-clearance self-propelled sprayers mired in mudholes this spring. A [...]

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Wednesday, July 13, 2011: Residents of the Midwest should be sure to enjoy the mild temperatures of the next two days as it is going to be quite a while before we see temperatures this cool again. Big heat for next week remains a very big story in the Midwest weather forecast right now. By [...]

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Tuesday, July 12, 2011: No change in national corn crop ratings this past week, as notable improvement in states such as Illinois and South Dakota offset rather notable deterioration for corn crops in Michigan, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania. We did not see much change in soybean ratings either (one percent of the crop moved up from [...]

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