Widespread moisture across much of the Corn Belt

Weather

Widespread moisture across much of the Corn Belt

Across the Corn Belt, snow is falling across the upper Great Lakes region, while rain showers stretch from southern Lower Michigan across the middle Mississippi Valley. In areas of the Midwest that had been trending dry, recent and ongoing precipitation is helping to replenish soil moisture.

On the Plains, drier weather follows recent snowfall. Some of the heaviest snow—which benefited winter wheat—fell on the northern and central Plains, where daily-record totals for December 28 were reported in locations such as Norfolk, Nebraska (7.5 inches), and Sioux Falls, South Dakota (4.6 inches). Early Wednesday, rain is falling across portions of the southern Plains, mainly in central and eastern Oklahoma and northern Texas.

In the South, cool, dry weather prevails in most areas. However, excessive soil moisture remains an impediment to fieldwork in a few spots, especially in Virginia and North Carolina. Early Wednesday, locally heavy showers are arriving across the northwestern fringe of the region, including the Ozark Plateau.

In the West, an approaching storm system is producing rain, snow, and gusty winds in the Pacific Northwest. Cool, dry weather covers the remainder of the western U.S.