Long-term Weather Outlook: Some Moisture on the Way; Little Major Drought Relief Expected

Lake-effect snow and rain and snowfall in the southern Plains and Southeast are the major features of the U.S. ag weather picture as the week starts to wind down. Meanwhile, anomalies in the jet stream in the Pacific Ocean — partly because of La Niña — is causing very little positive change in drought conditions in the western states and northern Plains. While parts of the central Plains have yet to see the severity of drought common in other regions, it’s an area meteorologists are watching closely as the long-term forecast raises chances for moisture in some of the driest areas of the West and Southwest. All in all, it’s an outlook that doesn’t deliver a lot of certainty about the wholesale easing of drought conditions across the country. See more from the latest outlook.