CHICAGO, March 6 (Reuters) -
Drought-relieving and crop-friendly snow fell on Tuesday from southern
Minnesota and eastern Iowa into the Ohio River Valley, leaving a blanket of 5
to 10 inches of wet snow, an agricultural meteorologist said on Wednesday.
Additional moisture is expected
later in the week that will provide more relief to bone dry soils following the
worst drought in the United States in more than 50 years.
"A storm this weekend will
bring rains to much of the central and southeastern Plains before moving into
the Midwest and Delta," said Joel Widenor, a meteorologist for Commodity
Weather Group (CWG).
The weekend storm will provide
needed relief to Nebraska, northern Colorado, northern and eastern Kansas, Iowa
and Missouri, he said.
"The southwestern third of the
Plains will receive less moisture," Widenor said. Early fieldwork will be
interrupted mainly in the Delta, where one-half to 1.5 inches of rain is
likely, he said.
Winter wheat conditions improved
across much of the U.S. Plains last week following heavy snow that provided a
much-needed boost to soil moisture in areas that have been suffering from
drought, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
Meteorologists said the significant
winter snow and rain had so far eliminated the drought conditions in an area
roughly from Illinois eastward.
But more moisture will be needed in
April and May to nurse the winter wheat crop to maturity and aid the
soon-to-be-seeded corn and soybean crops, meteorologists and crop experts have
said.
Don Keeney, a meteorologist for MDA
Earthsat Weather, said that as of early February, about 4 inches (10 cm) to 6
inches (15 cm) of rain was needed in Kansas, the top producer of hard red
winter wheat, to bring the state out of drought status.
Up to 8 inches (20 cm) was needed in
a pocket of severe dryness in northeastern Kansas, a big corn- and grain
sorghum-growing area. Similar amounts were needed in Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma,
Iowa and Missouri and northern Illinois and Indiana.