Drought Conditions Improve Across Much of the U.S.

This week’s U.S. Drought Monitor notes improvement in drought-related conditions across areas of the Midwest, Central and Northern Plains, South, and in the Desert Southwest.

Midwest

The Midwest experienced another week of scattered showers, resulting in continued drought improvements from Minnesota to Ohio. The U.S. Drought Monitor published July 31 reported rainfall accumulations ranged from 1–5 inches, with the heaviest amounts falling in isolated areas of northern Missouri, eastern Iowa, southern Minnesota, central Illinois, and northern Indiana. Improvements were reported in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. 

Phil Krieg, agronomy service representative for Syngenta Crop Protection in Illinois, reported that this past week brought spotty but heavy thunderstorms.

“Each day had a line of storms develop somewhere, with rainfall amounts exceeding 4 inches where the center of the storm developed,” Krieg said. “Saturated soils are causing plants to die in large areas — both corn and soybeans.”

Last week brought chart-topping humidity to Wisconsin, said Nick Groth, agronomic service representative for Syngenta Crop Protection.

“Fields are staying wet well past noon in many cases, leading to a lot of concern around disease development,” he said.

In Iowa, Wyffels Agronomy Manager Eric Wilson reports yellowing in low-lying soybean areas from excess moisture, while nitrogen deficiency is emerging in corn just as the crop enters peak grain fill.

“All of my coverage areas received rain over the last week,” Wilson said, “but areas in southeast Iowa and around the Des Moines area received heavy rainfall. So far, no further wind damage has been reported, but heavy rains are starting to take a toll on corn and beans.”

High Plains

This week, improvements continued from Kansas to North Dakota after another week of scattered shower activity, with light-to-moderate accumulations. Drought-related conditions have notably improved in northern Kansas, eastern Nebraska, southeastern and southwestern South Dakota, and southwestern North Dakota, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. This is evidenced in a variety of drought monitoring products, including streamflows, soil moisture, and vegetation health indicators.

Travis Gustafson, agronomic service representative for Syngenta Crop Protection, shared that Nebraska has entered a hot and dry weather pattern. 

“Irrigation has kicked into high gear, and the combination of a lot of sunlight and water will create good grain fill conditions,” he said.

However, conditions have worsened in other parts of the region, including central South Dakota and northern North Dakota.

West

Out West, generally dry conditions prevailed over much of the region except for some isolated shower activity in northeastern California, northwestern Nevada, eastern New Mexico, eastern Colorado, and Montana.

On the map, degradations were made across areas of the Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, Idaho) and Intermountain West (Utah, Wyoming, Colorado).

South

The U.S. Drought Monitor showed improvements were made in areas of South Texas and that state’s Trans Pecos region in response to above-normal precipitation during the past 30–120 days.

In these regions, improvements were made in numerous drought categories (D1–D3). In other areas, degradations occurred in southwestern Oklahoma, northern Mississippi, and central Tennessee, where rainfall has been below normal during the past 30–60-day period.