Weather

OMAHA (DTN) -- A cooling trend developing in the Midwest, and record dryness in Australia wheat areas are key weather items for the commodity trade's attention Friday.

COOL MIDWEST TREND

The DTN ag weather forecast calls for cooler conditions and less stress on crops over the next week. Rain will focus in eastern areas, bringing notable benefit to Michigan after a recent drying trend. In the southwestern Midwest, soils in Missouri remain very dry with little to no rain forecast.

VERY HOT IN SOUTHERN PLAINS

In the Southern Plains, high heat moved into Kansas Thursday, increasing stress to summer crops. The heat should back away during the next few days but may affect extreme southwest Kansas and southeast Colorado for a few more days. There is some chance for beneficial shower activity in key corn and soybean areas of Nebraska and north Kansas during the middle to late part of next week.

EXTREME WEST TEXAS HEAT

Cotton areas of west Texas will be extremely hot and dry during the next seven days. Temperatures will be in the 100s through Monday, and slightly less high Tuesday through Thursday.

WIDE NORTHERN PLAINS VARIABILITY

Northern Plains crop areas continue to have a sharp difference in conditions. The eastern portion of the region, especially North Dakota and Minnesota, has crops in mostly good to excellent condition. Additional showers are forecast through the end of the week. Montana, however, is dry and hotter, with increasing stress to spring wheat along with pastures and hay.

LIMITED WESTERN PRAIRIES RAIN

Showers remain fairly limited over southwest and central Canadian Prairies during the next seven days. North and east areas will have more activity. Conditions vary somewhat but with some warm and some cool days. More and better coverage rain is needed to support filling summer crops at this point.

LATE RUSSIA RAIN

In the Black Sea region, recent rain and less hot weather has helped ease stress to late reproductive and early-filling corn, but is unlikely to significantly improve prospects after the extremes of this summer.

SCATTERED NORTHEAST CHINA SHOWERS

Northeastern China had thunderstorms far west and north areas Wednesday, with drier and hotter conditions otherwise. Rainfall potential through early next week looks to be highest in the north and west areas. Southwest and central areas may trend hotter and drier during this time. Later next week scattered thundershowers and a cooler trend for the region.

HOT CENTRAL CHINA WEEKEND

In central China, hot and mostly dry weather continues into Sunday. The heat will increase stress to reproductive and filling summer crops, especially central and south areas that are also too dry. A weakening tropical storm will bring the chance for showers and thundershowers and lower temperatures to the area early next week. This may begin in southeast areas as soon as Sunday, reaching areas Monday and northern areas Tuesday.

MORE INDIA MONSOON RAIN

Moderate to heavy thunderstorms continued Thursday through west-central India, including in groundnut and cotton areas of Gujarat. Rain is also noted moving inland off the Bay of Bengal. This system is likely to bring more heavy rains to central and northwest India through early next week.

RECORD AUSTRALIA DRYNESS

Eastern Australia remains in the grip of historic drought. Precipitation the past fifteen months has been either near-record or record-low. This region also has very little precipitation forecast through October. Wheat prospects are declining.

Bryce Anderson can be reached at bryce.anderson@dtn.com

Follow Bryce Anderson on Twitter @BAndersonDTN

(ES/)

© Copyright 2018 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.