If one were to draw a line roughly at or south of Interstate 80 across the central U.S. and look south, drought conditions would raise major alarm bells. As such, a split through Corn Belt shows much of the area south of the Interstate 80 corridor in a classified drought.
The latest Drought Monitor released Thursday shows areas of extreme and exceptional drought classifications in parts of Kansas and Missouri, through Oklahoma and Texas, and throughout the Southwestern United States. In North-central and Northwest Missouri, pastures take the look of winter and evidence of corn being chopped for silage is seen. Little relief is expected for the Midwest, but the Drought Monitor does suggest that over the next week, temperatures could be as much as 10-20 degrees below normal during the period along with 1-2 inches of precipitation.
For July, the West, Southwest, South, and Northeast were among the warmest third of historical records which date back 124 years.
Total precipitation amounts for the month of July were below average for much of the Midwest and Northwest. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Midwest, to the North, and east, few classified droughts are evident.
Source: National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.