This week’s National Weather Service Drought Monitor showed almost all of the contiguous 48 states experiencing some form of abnormally dry conditions.
The exception was the Corn and Soybean belt and most of North Dakota. There also was a patch of central Texas that was rated as normal soil moisture. Coastal California also looked mostly OK.
Everything else looked pretty grim.
The weekly map is released Thursdays and shows soil moisture conditions as of the previous Tuesday.
IN SUMMARY
This week was defined by a significant precipitation divide, highlighted by a major deluge across parts of the South and Gulf Coast, the NWS said. Persistent storm systems funneled heavy moisture into Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, where total rainfall reached four to six inches—and in some coastal pockets even higher—representing departures of three to five inches above seasonal norms.
While an active frontal corridor brought a secondary band of moderate rain of one to three inches from Texas through the Ohio Valley and into the Northeast, the Western US remained exceptionally dry, with most areas west of the Rockies receiving less than 0.1 inch, the NWS said. This lack of moisture, paired with blustery winds, triggered extreme fire danger across the Upper Missouri Valley, though the period concluded with a pattern shift as a significant Pacific low-pressure system finally moved onshore to deliver moisture to the Northwest.
Temperature patterns showed an equally sharp geographical split, with unseasonable warmth gripping the West and parts of the South while a late-spring chill lingered over the North, the NWS said. In the Southwest and South Texas, summer-like heat took a firm hold as Rio Grande Village, Tex., hit a national high of 105°F and Death Valley consistently reached the triple digits. Overall, the Western US averaged five to 15°F above normal.
Conversely, a significant cool down settled over the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest, where the Dakotas and Minnesota experienced temperatures 5 to 15°F below seasonal averages, the NWS said. This thermal contrast was sharpened further by winter-like conditions in high-elevation regions of the West, where stations in Utah recorded lows as cold as 10°F, even as record-challenging warmth began to expand across the Pacific Northwest and the southern border states.
MIDWEST CHILL
The Midwest experienced a widespread late spring chill and a stark contrast in moisture levels between the north and south, the NWS said. Temperatures were broadly below average across the entire region, with the vast majority of the Midwest observing departures of 5 to 10°F below normal.
Average temperatures ranged from a cool 30–40°F along the northern border of Minnesota and Wisconsin to the more seasonable 60–70°F in the southern reaches of Missouri and Kentucky, the NWS said.
Precipitation was notably sparse across the northern half of the region, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan, where totals remained under 0.1 inches, resulting in departures of 0.5 to 1.5 inches below normal, the NWS said.
In contrast, the southern tier — particularly across parts of Kentucky, southern Missouri and the Ohio Valley — saw more active weather with precipitation totals ranging from 1.5 to more than three inches, leading to surpluses of 0.5 to 1.5 inches and resulting in the reduction of severe and extreme drought in western parts of Kentucky, the NWS said.
However, moderate to extreme drought was expanded in portions of central and eastern Kentucky, where rainfall amounts were below normal, the NWS said. Abnormal dryness also was expanded in parts of Minnesota, western Iowa, southern Missouri, and in pockets of Indiana and Ohio.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $251.82 per cwt to $260.00, compared with last week’s range of $246.25 to $259.00 per cwt. FOB dressed steers and heifers went for $400.43 per cwt to $407.80, compared with $388.77 to $402.31.
The USDA choice cutout Thursday was down $1.23 per cwt at $387.45 while select was up $0.42 at $389.00. The choice/select spread reinverted to a minus $1.55 from a plus $0.42 with 81 loads of fabricated product and 18 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA-listed the weighted average wholesale price for fresh 90% lean beef as $458.24 per cwt, and 50% beef was $188.12.
The USDA said basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.10 to $1.25 a bushel over the Jul corn contract, which settled at $4.67 1/2 a bushel, down $0.13 1/4.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Wednesday was $373.23 per cwt, down $0.09. This compares with Thursday’s May contract settlement of $367.57, up $0.25.