Storms blast through western Corn Belt

(Agriculture.com) – The northern Corn Belt continued to receive some isolated heavy rains yesterday and overnight. These storms continued to fire along the rim of hot dry air to the west and moist air to the east. Early on Monday, Moline, Illinois, reported a record rainfall total of 4.42″ of rain. There were spotty heavy storms to the northwest of Peoria as well yesterday morning.

A damaging derecho developed yesterday over west central Iowa and raced eastward yesterday afternoon across eastern Iowa and northern Illinois reaching Chicago in the late afternoon. There were reports of heavy rains and gusts of wind up to 80 mph that downed trees, flipped semis, and knocked out power. Strong thunderstorms are possible again today across Iowa, southern Wisconsin, and northern Illinois, again along the axis of hot, dry weather to the west and moist air to the east.

Beginning Wednesday into the weekend it will be hot for a day or two followed by a cooling trend for all of the Midwest. However, there is a chance of showers over northern Illinois on Saturday. It does look like a cooler and drier weather trend can be expected for the western Corn Belt states next week with a cooler and normal to above-normal precipitation trend for the eastern Corn Belt.

With temperatures forecast near 90 degrees the next several days, about 20 to 25 growing degree units are accumulating daily. This upcoming warm and sunny weather for the latter part of this week should help speed corn and soybean emergence, particularly in the western Corn Belt states.

The drier weather pattern next week for the western Corn Belt should be favorable to help dry out some of the wet topsoils allowing more fieldwork. Wet weather in the eastern Corn Belt will help to encourage germination and growth.