Midwest Crops Catch a Break With Rainfall — Northwest Faces Worsening Drought

This week’s U.S. Drought Monitor shows a sharply divided drought picture, with rainfall improving conditions across parts of the Midwest, while the Northwest continues to deteriorate under rapid drying.

Midwest

Heavy rains brought improvement to drought or dryness conditions in areas of Iowa, northern Missouri, southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois, and northeast Minnesota. Rainfall totals locally exceeded 5 inches from northwest Missouri to southern Wisconsin. In Kansas City, Missouri, and Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, areas, abnormal dryness grew in coverage as soil moisture and streamflow dropped amid growing short-term precipitation deficits.

“Much of my area has received needed rainfall over the last week,” said Eric Wilson, Wyffels agronomy manager in Iowa. “Some places in northern Iowa have received heavy rainfall and some spotty hail. Having plenty of moisture should help the crop mitigate through this coming week of 90°F days.” 

The week of June 16 started off cool with more rain and thunderstorms, shared Phil Krieg, agronomy service representative for Syngenta Crop Protection in Illinois.  

“By weeks end we were approaching 100°F with a strong south wind,” Krieg said. “That helped us to dry out and get back to planting, replanting, and harvesting wheat. Southern Illinois is in recovery mode — getting our crops back on track will take some time and a lot of work. Optimism is still running thin.” 

Abnormal dryness also grew in coverage near Grand Rapids, Michigan, where short-term precipitation deficits and soil moisture deficits grew. Abnormal dryness expanded in parts of east-central Illinois and southwest Michigan, where storms largely missed. Hot, dry conditions led to declining soil moisture and streamflow, with precipitation deficits mounting in those pockets.

High Plains

In the High Plains, mixed conditions prevailed. Eastern Nebraska and parts of Kansas saw some improvement where rain fell, but areas that stayed dry degraded due to heat and moisture loss. Long-term drought continues to show impacts in eastern Nebraska, where tree mortality remains an issue after long-term drought.

West

Farther west, abnormal dryness and moderate to severe drought expanded across parts of Idaho, northeast California, northern Utah and Nevada, and into southeastern Oregon and Washington. These areas have seen rapid drying, falling streamflows, vegetation stress, and developing soil moisture deficits, despite slightly cooler-than-normal temperatures this week.

South

Temperatures across the South region this week ranged from near-normal to 2-6° warmer than normal in most of the region. Across Texas, drought conditions were mixed with both improvements and degradations. Following heavier rains last week in the south-central part of the state but drier weather in the Midland-Odessa area.

Looking ahead, forecast models show the dry pattern continuing across much of the West, especially west of the Continental Divide. Meanwhile, additional rainfall is expected in the Upper Midwest and eastern Corn Belt, which could bring continued recovery in those areas — if timely rains materialize.