Rains Give Some Relief to Drought-Stressed Crops

Rains over the weekend across most of the U.S. Midwest corn and soybean growing region, and forecasts for more rain this week, will help relieve stress on crops, an agricultural meteorologist said Monday. "It's an improved forecast, not a perfect one," said John Dee, meteorologist for Global Weather Monitoring. "I wasn't so surprised about the amounts of rain, but the 85% coverage was better than expected." From 0.20 to 0.80 inch of rain, with locally heavier amounts, fell on about 85% of the Midwest over the weekend. More rain was forecast for early this week and again later in the week. "A similar storm system is likely Wednesday and Thursday to bring similar amounts and coverage," he said. The Midwest was nearing the end of the extreme heat, while hot weather remained worrisome in the Southwest. Continue reading this article

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