WASHINGTON — As of the morning of January 10th, only 28.6% of the US was covered by snow. Snow coverage was mainly contained to the Rockies, Northern Plains, and New England, but by the start of next week, areas of the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic are expected to be blanketed in white as well. While snowfall is expected in parts of the Rockies on Friday, the Central Plains and Midwest likely won’t see flakes starting until late Friday night or Saturday morning. For the Mid-Atlantic, snow will likely begin sometime Saturday late afternoon/evening into Sunday. While there is still some uncertainty about exact snow totals from the storm, snowfall rates could be heavy at times and mix with sleet or freezing rain. Many from Colorado to Delaware are likely to see snow at some point this weekend. Current outlooks have the highest snow totals falling across portions of MO, IA, and IL on Saturday, and in VA and MD on Sunday. Some snow could stick around until Monday morning for parts of the Mid-Atlantic and into coastal New England.
Winter Storm Watches have already been issued for east central Missouri and southern Illinois as of writing. Additional watches and warnings can be expected as the event draws closer. Although warmer than normal temperatures are forecast to remain in the Plains through this week and well into next week, the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic is expected to trend colder through early next week. While warmer than normal temperatures have seemed to dominate over the last several weeks, there are now signs of this warmth breaking down and the return of colder than normal conditions later this month.
Jumping down to Brazil, soybean harvest is getting underway and will be in full swing by later this month and into February. Conditions are still rather hot and dry for central and south-central Brazil. Although this is currently the peak of their rainy season, conditions have been anything but wet. Early soybean yields are generally lower than last year and rather disappointing for many. While the states of Parana and Mato Grosso do Sul remain the hardest-hit by the lack of rain, drier trends are also impacting yields and crop quality in Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Goias, and others. Thus far, about 5% of the crop has been harvested in the state of Parana. This time last year, no beans had been harvested. The earlier start to harvest is 2-fold. 1, planting got off to a very fast and earlier start this season and 2, the hot and dry weather is forcing the crop to reach maturity faster than normal. Only about 58% of the state’s soybeans are rated in good condition. The remainder of January looks to continue to trend warmer and drier than normal across much of the soybean-growing region.
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