According to today's Weather and Crop Bulletin report of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), open weather for much of the week favored a rapid fieldwork pace in many areas, including the Plains and Midwest. Exceptions included portions of the northern Plains and far upper Midwest, where melting snow led to sharp river rises, wet field conditions, and lowland flooding.
In addition, a late-week storm system delivered precipitation (rain and wet snow) across the upper Midwest. Meanwhile, generally dry weather stretched from California to the southern Plains. In the latter region, punishing drought and warm, windy weather further stressed rangeland, pastures, and winter grains.
Late-week showers provided very limited and localized drought relief in a few areas, including parts of central and eastern Kansas. In California, the Great Basin, and the Southwest, extensive snowpack began to melt, amid warm, sunny conditions.
Elsewhere, showery weather returned across the Northwest, while locally heavy rain soaked the South. Some of the heaviest rain, locally 4 inches or more, fell in the central Gulf Coast region and across southern Florida.
Late in the week, showers spread northeastward across the eastern U.S. Weekly temperatures averaged 10 to 20°F above normal from the central Plains into the Great Lakes region and parts of the Northeast. Warmer-than-normal weather also dominated the mid-South, southern Plains, and Southwest.