U.S. Weather/Crop Progress
U.S. Drought Monitor Weather Forecast: In the day since the Tuesday morning cutoff time of this week’s USDM, a low-pressure system dropped half an inch or more of precipitation across parts of California, Oregon, and the Northern Rockies, while another surface low gave half an inch to 2 inches of rain to parts of Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. For February 22-28, the western low will track across the central CONUS to the Northeast, followed by a second low taking a similar track, and a third low will bring more precipitation to the West. A tenth of an inch or more of precipitation is forecast for much of the West, the Lower Mississippi Valley, and parts of Florida, with 1 inch or more along the west coast, Central Rockies, and in a band from the Central Plains and Ohio Valley to the Northeast. Up to 3 inches of new precipitation may fall in the D1-D2 area of southern coastal California and the Sierra Nevada, with up to 2 inches in parts of the Midwest to Northeast.
Little to no precipitation is forecast for the Northern and Southern Great Plains and parts of the coastal Southeast. A trough west/ridge east pattern should keep temperatures cooler than normal in the western CONUS and warmer than normal in the east. For March 1-8, the odds favor drier-than-normal conditions from the Southwest to Central Plains and parts of Florida, and wetter-than-normal conditions along the northern tier states in the CONUS, and most of the country along and east of the Mississippi River. Odds favor cooler-than-normal weather across the western CONUS, and warmer-than-normal weather across the eastern half of the CONUS as well as the Southern Plains.
Follow this link to view current U.S. and international weather patterns and future outlook: Weather and Crop Bulletin.