Heat will be building or persisting for the remainder of the week, except across the northern High Plains and Northwest.  In the Midwest, the first 100-degree temperatures of the season should arrive during the weekend.  Similarly elevated temperatures will extend to other areas, especially from the central and southern Plains to the middle and southern Atlantic States, favoring winter wheat harvesting but increasing stress on reproductive summer crops, including early-planted corn.  Additionally, showers will be more widely scattered than those observed in recent weeks, except across Florida’s peninsula, where 5-day rainfall totals could reach 4 to 12 inches or more. 

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