Market Impact Weather

OMAHA (DTN) -- Scattered Midwest rains, heavy to very heavy tropical rains for the Delta, and a cooler outlook for the Southern Plains are the key weather items for the commodity trade's attention Thursday.

SCATTERED MIDWEST RAINS

The DTN ag weather forecast calls for scattered rains favoring north and southeast areas of the Midwest during the next 24 to 48 hours. Drier after that. No significant hot weather is in sight. This is a mostly favorable weather pattern for developing crops.

TROPICAL STORM CINDY MAKES LANDFALL

Radar and surface observations indicate that Tropical Storm Cindy made landfall between Cameron, Louisiana and Port Arthur, Texas early Thursday morning. Maximum sustained winds were likely near 40 miles per hour at the time of landfall. At 4 a.m. CDT, the center of Tropical Storm Cindy was located near Latitude 29.9 North, Longitude 93.6 West. Cindy is moving toward the north near 12 mph (19 kilometers/hour), and a turn toward the north-northeast is expected Thursday night, followed by a turn toward the northeast on Friday. On the forecast track, the center will move into southeastern Arkansas early Friday and into Tennessee later on Friday.

HEAVY TO VERY HEAVY RAINS FOR DELTA

Tropical storm Cindy will have weakened to a depression as it moves through the key growing areas of the Delta tonight or Friday. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely with the passage of this system. This may mean flooding for some locations. Winds will be of a moderate nature, but could be somewhat higher near any thunderstorms that develop.

DRYNESS CONTINUES FOR NORTHERN PLAINS

Dryness remains a concern in key crop areas of North Dakota, especially for reproductive wheat. Rainfall chances remain fairly limited during the next five days. Showers may increase somewhat after that, but this is uncertain. No significant hot weather is expected, which helps ease moisture requirements of crops.

COOLER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHERN PLAINS

The Southern Plains will see mostly favorable conditions for mature winter wheat and the harvest. Recent high temperatures increased stress to corn and sorghum, but it looks to be much cooler during the coming days.

CHANCE OF RAINS AHEAD FOR WEST TEXAS

Dryland fields would benefit from increased rain chances and less extreme heat in west Texas. The forecast does include a chance for beneficial rains to reach the area this weekend or early next week. Temperatures continue to be fairly high, but it should turn lower after Thursday.

WET WEATHER IN CANADIAN PRAIRIES

Wet weather and conditions may delay the final planting effort for crop areas of northern and central Alberta and northwest Saskatchewan. Scattered showers and cooler conditions favor developing crops elsewhere in the region. However, rainfall levels are still averaging well below normal during the past 30- and 60-day periods through southwest and south-central Saskatchewan. More rain is needed to bring these values closer to normal.

SHOWERS HELP NORTHEAST CHINA

Showers and cooler weather developed during the weekend and continued during Monday in northeast China. This will improve conditions for planting and early development of crops. However, more rain is still needed through some western growing areas. The region looks to be drier and warmer during the next seven to 10 days or so.

INDIAN MONSOON DELAYED

The leading edge of the monsoon has moved little during the past seven days, and it is now running about 10 days behind normal development in India. This leaves key growing areas of west-central and northwest India outside of the Monsoon flow pattern. However, a trough dipping down from the north has led to scattered thundershowers in east Pakistan and north India this week. This favors these crop areas while key soybean, groundnut and cotton areas in west-central India remain between the monsoon activity to the south and scattered showers associated with the trough in the north.

Elaine Shein can be reached at elaine.shein@dtn.com

(BAS)

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