Winter Storm Ursa swept across the High Plains this past weekend, dumping snow from Texas to Nebraska in one of the strongest snowstorms to hit the region this late in the spring, according to the Weather Channel.
The snow hit a winter wheat crop that up until this point was progressing ahead of the average pace with 42% headed compared with the five-year average of 34%. “Freeze injury during heading and flowering stages can cause severe yield consequences,” says the Kansas Wheat Commission. (Read more about the Kansas wheat crop in ‘We Lost the Western Kansas Wheat Crop This Weekend’.)
This weekend’s storm has also caused flooding in eastern Oklahoma, northern Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, according to the National Weather Service, which is slowing down planting progress in certain states and may require replanting in others.
Farmers took to Twitter to share the devastation caused by the late blizzard, freezing temperatures, and flooding.