Short-term dryness (D0) has begun to expand across southern and eastern sections of the region, favoring summer crop maturation but reducing topsoil moisture. Meanwhile, long-term drought issues persisted across the upper Midwest, despite some recent rainfall. By September 12, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that topsoil moisture was at least one-third very short to short in each Midwestern State except Wisconsin, led by Indiana (47%). During the week ending September 12, very short to short values increased by more than 10 percentage points in Indiana and Ohio. In contrast, locally heavy rain was observed in the Great Lakes region, particularly across portions of Michigan and Wisconsin. Elsewhere, lingering impacts from summer drought left 63% of Minnesota’s pastures in very poor to poor condition on September 12.

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