U.S. Weather/Crop Progress
U.S. Drought Monitor Weather Forecast: For July 30-August 3, the ridge of high pressure shifts to the West with a trough setting up in the upper atmosphere over the eastern half of the CONUS. Little to no rain is forecast for most of the West, with half an inch or less across parts of the Rockies and only a couple inches stretching across the middle of New Mexico. But an inch or more of rain is expected from the central Plains to southern Appalachians and southern Great Lakes, with heavy rain (4 inches or more) widespread from Missouri and northern Arkansas to Kentucky, Indiana, and western North Carolina. A tropical system is predicted to sideswipe the East Coast, dumping an inch or more of rain across Florida to the Mid-Atlantic states, 3 or more inches over southern Florida, and up to 2 inches over eastern North Carolina and southeast Virginia. Half an inch or less of rain is expected from Texas to southwest Georgia, and across the northern Plains to western Great Lakes. In the Northeast, predicted precipitation amounts range from nearly 2 inches in western New York to a tenth of an inch along coastal New England. The ridge will keep temperatures warmer than normal in the West while the trough brings cooler-than-normal temperatures to much of the CONUS east of the Rockies.
The outlook for August 4-8 calls for a greater than average chance of wetter-than-normal conditions along the East Coast, in the northern Plains, across Deep South Texas, and most of Alaska. Odds favor drier-than-normal conditions across most of the West, the southern Plains, the central Gulf of Mexico coast to the Great Lakes, and over northern Alaska. Warmer-than-normal temperatures are likely across the Southwest and along the immediate East Coast, while cooler-than-normal temperatures are likely to dominate from the Plains to Appalachians, in the Pacific Northwest, and across most of Alaska.
Follow this link to view current U.S. and international weather patterns and future outlook: Weather and Crop Bulletin.