Upper Midwest Faces Dryness, as West Sees Wet Spell

The U.S. Drought Monitor map for this week showed a mix of drought improvements and degradations. There were improvements in drought-related conditions across areas of the West, Lower Midwest, Northeast, and the South. Since Oct. 1, numerous locations in California, southern Nevada, and Arizona have received record to near-record precipitation. In the Lower Midwest (Missouri) and areas of the South (Texas), widespread improvements were made in response to rainfall events during the past week.

Across much of the Pacific Northwest, drier-than-normal conditions have prevailed over the past 30 days. Moreover, snowpack conditions across the region continued to lag behind normal levels.

In areas of the Upper Midwest, exceptionally dry conditions have prevailed during the past 60-day period, with numerous locations observing record to near-record dryness. In the Southeast, warm and dry conditions continued, expanding and intensifying drought conditions in the Florida Panhandle, southern Alabama, and southern Georgia. In the Northeast, recent rains led to a reduction in drought coverage in West Virginia, while isolated areas of New England saw minor improvements.

High Plains

The High Plains region on the drought map experienced only minor changes, including changes in eastern Kansas, Nebraska, and southwestern South Dakota.

Precipitation across the region was generally light and primarily restricted to eastern and central portions of Kansas, as well as eastern and central South Dakota. Temperatures were higher than normal, with anomalies of about 5–15°F across the region.

“Weather in Nebraska has been mild and dry for November,” shared Travis Gustafson, an agronomic service representative for Syngenta covering central and western Nebraska. “There is a lot of post-harvest field activity taking place such as grid sampling, light tillage, and some fall anhydrous applications going on. This fieldwork window should close up on us as we roll into Thanksgiving and a cool down for December.”

Midwest

In the Midwest, improvements were made in the southern extent, in Missouri, in response to widespread rainfall across the state. Minor improvements were made in southern Illinois, central Indiana, and northwestern Michigan.

“Most of my area got about 0.2–0.4 inches of rain,” said Ryan Gentle, a Wyffels agronomy manager based in Illinois. “Very mild temperatures for the middle of November. We are very dry headed into the winter.”

Average temperatures were above normal across the western and southern portions of the region, with anomalies ranging from 5–15°F above normal. The greatest departures from normal were observed in western Minnesota and southern Missouri.

Tim Dahl, an agronomic service representative for Syngenta in southern Minnesota, said it’s been “unbelievably nice” in Minnesota. Temperatures were cooler in the eastern half of the region, ranging from 5°F above normal to 5°F below normal.

“Last week brought rain, fog, and cooler conditions during the first half and ended with warm weather into the weekend,” said Logan Dinkla, a Syngenta agronomic service representative in Iowa.

The Southeast Regional Climate Center’s Climate Perspectives tool shows the past two months have been very dry across the region. Record to near-record dryness was observed in the following locations: Duluth, Minnesota (minus 4.52-inch departure); Madison, Wisconsin (minus 3.57 inches); Green Bay, Wisconsin (minus 2.58 inches); Detroit, Michigan (minus 3.75 inches); and St. Louis, Missouri (minus 4.3 inches).

“The weather across Wisconsin remained dry, and temperatures were seasonal,” shared Nick Groth, a Syngenta agronomic service representative covering that state. “It is starting to get cold in Wisconsin, but nothing out of the ordinary for late November.”