Episode 280: Winter Storm Redux and What’s Ahead for Ag Weather

A highly unusual winter storm swept across the United States on Jan. 24-25, plunging parts of the midwest into long stretches of below zero temperatures while dumping feet of snow from Kansas and Missouri all the way into the Northeast.

Sleet and ice clogged up conditions from Texas to the Carolinas, and despite the extreme conditions, the precipitation was welcome as drought conditions have continued to spread across the middle of the country.

To bring us up to speed on the winter storm and its impacts, we’re joined by DTN’s Team Lead for Ag Weather John Baranick. He’ll walk us through winter conditions thus far for key farming regions across the U.S. and offer insight into the forecasting of the latest winter storm.

Then he’ll take us beat by beat through the impacts in different regions, from rain, sleet, and snowfall totals and the likely effect on drought conditions to temperature variations and how overwintering crops might be affected. We’ll get an updated forecast for the half of winter that remains, and hear what wildcards John thinks might still be at play.

Finally, we’ll take a look at conditions in South America and get a clearer picture of how crops in Argentina and Brazil are shaping up as farmers move towards harvest time.