Across the Corn Belt, showers and thunderstorms are pounding the upper Midwest, delivering drought relief but causing localized wind and hail damage. Parts of the northwestern Corn Belt also experienced severe thunderstorms on Thursday, when official wind gusts were clocked to 78 mph in Benson, Minnesota, and 75 mph in Watertown, South Dakota. Meanwhile, hot, dry weather in the southern Corn Belt continues to push summer crops toward maturity.
On the Plains, drought-easing showers across the northern half of the region are heaviest in the eastern Dakotas.
