Getting discouraged - Update 03/21/16

In the previous posting (read it here) I discussed the cold and how much colder it was going to get over the weekend.  I cannot find the map I saved, but there were numerous low temperatures Sunday morning in the single digits and low teens across the plains.  The budding and blooming trees took a big hit, but I don't believe an assessment can be made on the winter wheat for another few days.  With the unseasonably warm weather expected Monday and Tuesday, followed by another blast of cold weather, it can't be good.

In the headline...."Getting discouraged".  Why?  Another strong system will move into the plains late Wednesday and into Thursday.  This storm will have enough cold air to produce heavy snow and blizzard conditions from northeast Colorado into the midwest and Great Lakes.  It is taking a very similar path that the January storm did, almost exactly!

In the posts I've been doing since December, I had high hopes of normal to above normal precipitation for the spring (March, April and May).  However, every day the pattern doesn't respond in the way I was anticipating, I'm slowly getting more concerned the outlook may have been too optimistic.   It's way early, so I won't throw in the towel yet.  I'll try an update later this week.  This is my busiest time of the year and free time to do this blog is very tight.

In the meantime, here is an outlook of precipitation for this week and into Easter Sunday.  Good for much of the corn belt anyway!