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"Much of the (Midwest) region did not see appreciable rainfall. As of June 20, 58% of the Midwest was in moderate drought or worse, the broadest area since 2012, the Drought Monitor data showed. 2 soybean producer in moderate drought or worse. In Illinois, the largest soy grower and second-largest corn producer, moderate drought or worse spanned 82% of the state. Conditions worsened across the eastern half of the High Plains, with 34% of the region in moderate drought or worse.

Persons: climatologists, Karl Plume, Matthew Lewis Organizations: U.S . Drought, Drought, U.S . Department of Agriculture, Chicago, of Trade, USDA, Weather, Thomson Locations: North Dakota, Kansas, U.S, Midwest, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Southern Plains, Chicago

☆ Canadian Wildfire Smoke Descends in an Unhealthy Haze Over Minnesota
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Anna Betts | Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As a gray cloud and a pungent smell moved through the Twin Cities on Wednesday, normally bustling bike lanes and running trails were largely deserted. The air quality reached unhealthy levels in Minneapolis, St. Paul and much of Minnesota on Wednesday, as the Upper Midwest became the latest pocket of the country to have its air fouled by smoke drifting south from wildfires that have been burning across Canada for weeks. As in New York and much of the East Coast last week, Minnesotans were looking to the skies and to the Air Quality Index to make sense of what was going on around them. On Wednesday, Minneapolis and St. Paul recorded Air Quality Index readings above 250, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency advises is “very unhealthy” for most people. The smoke spread across other parts of the Upper Midwest, too.

Persons: Paul Organizations: Twin, Air, . Environmental Protection Agency, N.D Locations: Twin Cities, Minneapolis, St, Minnesota, Upper Midwest, Canada, New York, East, Midwest, Eau Claire, Wis, Fargo

☆ Wildfire smoke from Canada disrupts New York, Philadelphia flights
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 7 (Reuters) - Some flights into the New York City area and Philadelphia on Wednesday were delayed and others briefly halted because of reduced visibility from wildfire smoke from Canada. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was slowing traffic but lifted a groundstop on flights from the upper Midwest and East Coast bound for New York LaGuardia International Airport on Wednesday afternoon. The FAA said it had also begun slowing traffic from the East Coast and Midwest bound for Philadelphia International Airport due to reduced visibility from wildfire smoke. Hundreds of forest fires in Canada have led to a blanket of smoky air, triggering health alarms in U.S. cities. Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese, Lisa Shumaker and Deepa BabingtonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: David Shepardson, Chris Reese, Lisa Shumaker, Deepa Babington Organizations: New, Federal Aviation Administration, New York LaGuardia International Airport, FAA, Philadelphia International, LaGuardia, Newark, Thomson Locations: New York City, Philadelphia, Canada, Midwest, East Coast, Newark, Delta, United States, Washington

☆ Biden's campaign is making an early push to compete in swing-state North Carolina and GOP-trending Florida in 2024, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Biden campaign is aiming for the president to compete in North Carolina and Florida in 2024, per the Washington Post. However, despite the statement from the GOP, North Carolina has a two-term Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, and remains competitive for the party on the statewide level. Newly-elected Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried, a former state agriculture commissioner, is working to reverse the party's slide as it heads into next year's races. "North Carolina is the fullback of presidential politics. "But it's critical for Democrats to keep it close because Republicans have to expend extraordinary resources and time making sure they win North Carolina," he added.

☆ The worst bird flu outbreak in US history is 'wiping out everything in numbers we've never seen before.' Here's what you need to know.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A new strain of bird flu, also known as avian influenza, is spreading across the US. Bill Powers with his flock of white turkeys, kept under shelter to prevent exposure to bird flu, on November 14, 2022 in Townsend, Delaware. And we now have the highest amount of poultry loss to avian influenza, so this is a worst-case scenario," she added. Last week the US Government started testing four new bird flu vaccines to try and protect the poultry from this mass outbreak, per Reuters. Markets are in troubleFarmers and the markets are being hit hard by the ravages of avian flu.

[1/3] U.S. President Joe Biden attends the groundbreaking of the new Intel semiconductor manufacturing facility in New Albany, Ohio, U.S., September 9, 2022. But all that new construction has a real estate problem. That would be a problem for the Biden administration, which has pushed through legislation to fuel the developments. A White House official said it was a "high-class problem" to have, adding: "Folks are finding places to build. The governors of South Carolina, Virginia and North Carolina have each proposed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on readying industrial sites in the coming years.

☆ Wet winter eases California drought, giving way to spring flood risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Climate change is driving both wet and dry extremes," NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said in a statement. "We're not calling for catastrophic and major widespread flooding," said Ed Clark, director of NOAA's National Water Center. California's winter was marked by a punishing succession of so-called atmospheric river storms, the product of vast, dense airborne currents of water vapor funneled in from the tropical Pacific. The storms have unleashed widespread flooding, mudslides, power outages, fallen trees, surf damage, road wash-outs and evacuations since late December. "Winter precipitation, combined with recent storms, wiped out exceptional and extreme drought in California for the first time since 2020, and is expected to further improve drought conditions this spring," NOAA said.

☆ Eggs are so expensive that Dollar Tree has just given up stocking them
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Dollar Tree said Tuesday it will stop selling eggs because of soaring prices, Reuters reported. The dollar store chain plans to bring add eggs back to its stores this fall. Dollar Tree will hold off on stocking the grocery staple until this fall, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday. The decision will remove eggs from the grocery sections of about 8,000 Dollar Tree stores across the US and Canada. Dollar stores have expanded their grocery offerings in recent years in a bid to capture more of consumers' food budgets.

☆ Destructive tornadoes in U.S. Plains injure a dozen, cut power for thousands
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Some 12,000 homes and businesses were without power across Oklahoma, Poweroutage.us reported. Video footage and photographs of the destruction on local news and social media showed power lines resting in the middle of roadways, debris strewn across neighborhoods and roofs ripped off buildings. A total of nine tornadoes were reported in Kansas and Oklahoma, the National Weather Service said. The rough weather comes after days of a winter storm clobbered the U.S. Plains, Midwest and Great Lakes regions. Monday's national forecast features winds of up to 110 miles (177 km) per hour across the U.S. Plains along with powerful winter storms in California, the Upper Midwest and New England.

☆ From L.A. to Minneapolis, U.S. bashed by severe winter storms
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Resident Martin Sherwin is framed by trees while clearing snow during a winter storm in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, U.S., February 22, 2023. The broad swath of the northern United States - from Washington state to New England - remained under winter weather advisories. In Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and New York, high winds and freezing rains left some 900,000 homes and businesses without power on Thursday morning, according to Poweroutage.us. A separate storm spawned unusual weather in California, where much of the state was under high wind and winter storm warnings. "Big-time flakes coming down here," storm chaser Aaron Jayjack said in a video he posted on Twitter from Minneapolis.

☆ Oil drops 3% as high inflation risks stoke demand worries
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Shariq Khan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Brent crude futures for April delivery were down $2.33, or 2.8%, to $80.72 a barrel at 2:20 p.m. EST (1920 GMT), while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped by $2.31, or 3%, to $74.05 a barrel. "While better U.S. economic data should mean better oil demand, the concern is that this forces the Fed to overtighten monetary policy to bring inflation under control," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. Other U.S. economic reports, however, showed some troubling signs for the world's biggest oil consumer. According to a preliminary Reuters poll on Tuesday, analysts forecast a rise in U.S. crude inventories, feeding demand worries. Morgan Stanley raised its global oil demand growth estimate for this year by about 36%, citing growing momentum in China's reopening and a recovery in aviation.

☆ Airlines cancel over 1,300 U.S. flights as winter storm grips states
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 22 (Reuters) - Airlines canceled more than 1,300 flights in the United States on Wednesday as a strong winter storm makes its way through the western and central states. A total of 1,327 flights within, into and out of the United States were canceled by 12:30 p.m. ET, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware, which also showed 2,030 flights were delayed. Regional carrier SkyWest Inc (SKYW.O) led the cancellations with 312 flights, followed by low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines Co's (LUV.N) 248 and Delta Air Lines' (DAL.N) 246 flight cancellations. Southwest and Delta said they are monitoring the storm, while SkyWest did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.

☆ Airlines cancel over 1,000 U.S. flights as winter storm grips states
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 22 (Reuters) - Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights in the United States on Wednesday as a strong winter storm makes its way through the western and central states. A total of 1,035 flights within, into or out of the United States were canceled by 0915 am ET, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware, which showed 932 flights were delayed. Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N) led the cancellations with 235 flights, followed by Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) that canceled 197 flights. Southwest and Delta did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Massive snowstorm closes schools, grounds flights in U.S. heartland
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The storm hit California on Tuesday and was expected to continue through the end of the week. In Central California, the weather iced over roadways, the weather service reported. More than 100,000 homes and businesses were without power, largely in Central California, according to the tracking site Poweroutage.us. Among the hardest-hit cities was Minneapolis, where some 20 inches (50 cm) of snow and 45-mph (72-kph) winds were expected to create whiteouts. The storm wreaked havoc on morning air travel as hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled across the nation.

☆ Huge winter storm churns across northern U.S., threatening record snowfall
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

CHICAGO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - A massive winter storm spreading across the U.S. West into the Northern Plains and Midwest on Tuesday could produce blizzards, brutal cold, and record snowfall, making road travel treacherous and disrupting air travel. The National Weather Service issued winter storm, blizzard and high-wind advisories for a broad swath of the western and north-central United States. Some spots in the South may have temperatures that are over 100 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than some places in the Northern Plains, the forecast showed. While the U.S. East has experienced a relatively mild winter, the Northern Plains has had an extreme winter in terms of snowfall and temperatures, NWS meteorologist Matthew Bunkers in South Dakota said. Although the snow storm could wreak havoc on daily life, it was welcomed by skiers.

☆ Winter storm threatens record snowfall in parts of US
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Waves come to shore along the coastline as a winter storm approaches Oceanside, California, U.S., February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Mike BlakeCHICAGO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - A winter storm spreading across the U.S. West into the Northern Plains and Midwest on Tuesday could produce blizzards, brutal cold, and record snowfall, making roads treacherous and disrupting air travel. The National Weather Service issued winter storm, blizzard and high-wind advisories for large parts of the western and north-central United States. The agency said these areas will also be under a winter storm warning until Friday and advised people against traveling. Although the snow storm could wreak havoc on daily life, it was welcomed by skiers.

☆ Americans are battling an egg price crisis after an almost 60% surge in 2022. Here's what's happening.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Soaring input costs and a bird flu outbreak have driven up US egg prices to multi-year highs. Farmers across the US have pinpointed two factors that are fuelling the egg price crisis. Spiraling inflation has squeezed their input costs higher – and they've had to respond by raising egg prices. That's because the US is also contending with a vicious outbreak of bird flu, which is killing hens and reducing overall egg supplies. And with inflation still remaining elevated by historical standards and bird flu fueling a steep drop-off in supply, it's unlikely that the egg price crisis will be over anytime soon.

☆ Here are the states where egg prices have doubled — and the lucky few where they've risen by just 50%, according to new data
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Alex Bitter | Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Egg prices in some states doubled in December, compared with the same month in 2021, according to data from Instacart. Even so, the highest prices for a dozen eggs were in other states, such as Hawaii and Florida. Egg prices increased the most in upper Midwestern states year-over-year in December, according to Instacart. In 2019, chickens on its farms produced just over 17 billion eggs, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Despite the increases, states like Iowa still had some of the lowest egg prices in the US.

Millions of people in the South and the Southeast are at risk of severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and flash floods Tuesday and Wednesday, while a messy winter storm is expected to hit the Midwest and a separate storm slams California later this week. Threats of severe thunderstorms, flash floodsAs many as 20 million people from southeast Louisiana to south-central Alabama are at risk for severe thunderstorms Tuesday that could bring damaging wind gusts, large hail and some strong tornadoes, classified as having winds of more than 111 mph. The thunderstorms are expected to continue through the day and last into the overnight hours. In addition to the severe thunderstorms, flash flooding will also be a threat. St. Louis could see a high in the early 70s Tuesday before expected highs plunge to the high-30s and the mid-40s the rest of the week.

☆ Winter storm threatens heavy snow in US Midwest, tornadoes in South
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 3 (Reuters) - More than a foot of snow could fall on the U.S. Northern Plains and Upper Midwest over the next day, forecasters said on Tuesday, and the same storm threatened tornadoes and severe thunderstorms over parts of the South. After dropping around a foot (30 cm) of snow on parts of Nebraska and South Dakota, a powerful winter storm was moving eastward and could leave parts of southern South Dakota and Minnesota with another 12-18 inches (30-45 cm), according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The same system was causing heavy rain and a chance of tornadoes along the Central Gulf Coast. The heavy snowfall is occurring on the west to northern side of the storm...and then the rainfall and severe weather is across the south," NWS meteorologist Allison Santorelli said. Meanwhile, in California, the northern coast was hit by heavy rain over the weekend and might see flooding when another heavy rain storm arrives on Wednesday and Thursday.

☆ Winter storm expected to bring snow, freezing rain and tornadoes to parts of U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Steve Strouss | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A winter storm moving across the central Plains and Upper Midwest this week is expected to bring heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain to parts of the United States, while tornadoes could form farther south, officials have warned. The storm is expected to bring snowfall to the Central High Plains as it tracks northeast into the Great Lakes, likely producing moderate to heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain by Tuesday, the National Weather Service said. More than 12 inches of heavy snow is expected to quickly accumulate from the Panhandle of Nebraska through southwest Minnesota, it said. NOAAThe weather system is also expected to bring significant freezing rain to parts of northeastern Nebraska through southern Minnesota, the National Weather Service said. The thunderstorms could bring frequent lightning, severe thunderstorm wind gusts, hail and "a few tornadoes," the National Weather Service said.

As the storm took shape over the Great Lakes on Thursday, a weather phenomenon known as a bomb cyclone was likely to develop from a "rapidly deepening low-pressure" system, the National Weather Service (NWS) said. The cyclone could spawn snowfalls of a half inch (1.25 cm) per hour and howling winds from the Upper Midwest to the interior Northeast, producing near-zero visibility, the weather service said. "It's dangerous and threatening," President Joe Biden said at the White House, urging Americans with travel plans to not delay and to set off on Thursday. Hundreds of Texans died in February 2021 after the state's power grid failed amid wintry storms, leaving millions without electricity. Greg Carbin, chief of forecast operations at the NWS Weather Prediction Center in Maryland, said freezing or below-freezing cold would bisect central Florida, with temperatures about 25 degrees below normal.

☆ Deep freeze grips U.S. as winter 'bomb cyclone' looms ahead of holiday weekend
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Numbing cold intensified by high winds was expected to extend as far south as the U.S.-Mexico border. The NWS map of existing or impending wintry hazards, stretching from border to border and coast to coast, "depicts one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever," the agency said. The bomb cyclone could unleash snowfalls of a half inch (1.25 cm) per hour driven by gale-force winds, cutting visibility to near zero, the weather service said. Power outages were expected from high winds, heavy snow and ice, as well as the strain of higher-than-usual energy demands. The weather service said relief from the deep freeze was in sight for the northern Rockies and High Plains, where the arctic blast first materialized on Thursday.

☆ Massive winter storm threatens holiday travel for millions of Americans
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Tyler Clifford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

In its wake, the cyclone could spawn snowfalls of a half inch an hour and winds of more than 50 mph (80 kph) in the Upper Midwest and interior Northeast, the weather service said. "This will lead to dangerous, to at times impossible, land and air travel leading up to the holiday weekend," the agency said on its website. Temperatures in parts of the Southern Plains and Southeast could stay below freezing -- 30-plus degrees less than normal -- for multiple days, the weather service predicted. The weather service also warned of freezing rain in parts of Oregon and Washington in the Northwest, where the storm originated, late Thursday. That would be the biggest daily drop in output since the freeze of February 2021 when a winter storm cut gas supplies from Texas and forced the Texas electric grid operator to impose rolling power outages.

☆ Sprawling U.S. storm threatens holiday travel as 'bomb cyclone' looms
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Tyler Clifford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"It's a pretty powerful, powerful system." The storm, fed by moisture from the Great Lakes, could dump up to a foot (0.3 meter) of snow on the Upper Midwest between Wednesday and Friday, with blizzard conditions stretching from the Northern Plains states to the Great Lakes region. By Thursday night, a so-called "bomb cyclone" will likely form along the strong arctic front across the Great Lakes, sending pressure sharply lower in a 24-hour period. The holiday travel season is shaping up to be the third-busiest in decades as nearly 113 million people could pack up and journey more than 50 miles from home beginning Friday, according to motorists group AAA. While beefed-up airline staffing and other improvements since Thanksgiving will make travel easier during the holiday season, "nobody can control the weather.

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