Jet Stream Detour Leaves Midwest Farmers Drenched, Canadians Dried Out
- Two high-pressure ridges have trapped jet stream between them
- Farms drenched inside the ridges, outside it’s hot and dry
Floodwaters surround corn sitting under a collapsed grain bin in Thurman, Iowa, U.S., on March 23, 2019.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
North American farmers are stuck between a flood and a dry spot, and there is little immediate help ahead.
Two high-pressure ridges have trapped the jet stream between them, forcing it into an unusually stagnant S-path in which it gathers warm, very moist air from the Pacific, carries it across the Rockies and dumps it in the Great Plains and U.S. Midwest. The resulting storms have drenched the region, putting U.S. seeding at the slowest pace on record for this time of year.