Weather Report: Tranquil Weather This Weekend, Fieldwork Resumes

In the West, isolated showers are confined to the Pacific Northwest, where very cool weather prevails. Meanwhile, mild, dry weather in California and the Southwest is promoting fieldwork and crop development.

On the Plains, another surge of cool air is spreading across northern areas, while mild, dry weather elsewhere favors fieldwork and winter wheat development.

In the Corn Belt, mild weather is returning to the upper Midwest, but chilly conditions linger across eastern areas. Following mid-week rainfall, some producers are resuming fieldwork. By April 4, just 1% of Missouri’s corn crop had been planted, compared to the five-year average of 8%.

In the South, showers linger across the southern Atlantic region, but cool, dry weather elsewhere favors a gradual return to planting and other spring fieldwork, as conditions permit.

Outlook: Precipitation will end today in the East, except for some lingering rain and snow showers from the Great Lakes region into New England. For much of the weekend, tranquil weather will prevail nearly nationwide. However, the first in a series of Pacific storms will arrive in California on Sunday and affect the remainder of the West by early next week. In advance of the Pacific storminess, unusual warmth will return to the Plains and Midwest. The NWS 6- to 10-day outlook for April 14-18 calls for above-normal temperatures across the eastern half of the U.S., except along the Gulf Coast, while cooler-than-normal weather will prevail in the Rio Grande Valley and much of the West. Meanwhile, near- to above-normal precipitation across the western two-thirds of the nation will contrast with drier-than-normal conditions in much of the East.

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