Moisture Moving Through the Corn Belt
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It’s just about time to get some of that late planted corn and soybeans harvested. Hoosier Ag Today Chief Meteorologist Ryan Martin says we could continue to see some opportunities for fieldwork through the weekend and into Monday; however, “There is a strong storm complex lurking off to the west.”
Martin continued, “What happens between now and Monday night really depends on if you can miss a few hit-and-miss showers that try and pop up across the Eastern Corn Belt overnight Saturday night. The moisture totals are not impressive, but they would be just enough to maybe kick you out of the field. If you’re able to miss those, we still have a nice multi-day window here until our big front shows up Monday overnight.”
Martin expects significant rain and thunderstorms with that front Monday overnight through midday Tuesday with rain totals of a .25” to 1.25” across about 80% of the Eastern Corn Belt.
After that, Martin says the forecast looks better for the second half of the week.
“I think we’re dry for Tuesday afternoon, we’re dry Wednesday, we’re dry Thursday. We’re watching to see if another front can come together late next week Friday into early Saturday.”
According to Martin, “Some models have taken this front completely away. Others still indicate there’s something there. I’m in the ‘something there’ camp; however, magnitude is a little bit deceiving right now. I’ll say, worst case scenario, a .25” to 1” with thunderstorms, but I’m thinking we’re probably going to be back more toward the low end and coverage may be back closer to 50 or 60 percent of the region. So, stay tuned for this coming Friday- we’ll have to watch that period very closely.”
As for temperatures, Martin believes, “One thing’s for sure…temperatures are going to be on a very big yo-yo string here over the next 10 days to 2 weeks. We’re going to see some wild swings from very warm to very cold.”