According to today's Weather and Crop Bulletin report of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the last in a series of winter-like storms punched inland across the West before crossing the central Plains and upper Midwest.
The storm’s path dictated observed conditions, which included heavy, early-week snow across parts of the northern Plains and the West; showers and locally severe thunderstorms in the mid-South and Midwest, mainly on April 4-5; significant, late-week rain in much of the South; and dry, windy weather on the drought-stricken southern High Plains.
The Plains’ drought maintained abysmal conditions for U.S. winter wheat, which on April 9 was rated 37 percent very poor to poor—slightly worse than the same time a year ago (36 percent), but slightly better than the record-low 40 percent very poor to poor rating on April 7, 1996.
Farther north, snow that initially covered the ground in November 2022 remained in place across portions of the north-central U.S., with a new round of wind-driven snow falling during the first half of the week. In those snow-covered areas, producers remained unable to plant crops such as barley, oats, spring wheat, and sugarbeets.