Farmers in the Midwest may want to pray for more balmy water
temperatures off Peru’s equatorial coast. Colder-than-normal
seas in this region indicate that a La Niña weather event is
still stewing that could negatively alter rainfall and
temperature patterns elsewhere, including the U.S. Corn Belt –
similar to what occurred during summer 2011. “The dry-weather
bias across the Midwest from August through September last year
was, in part, a function of La Niña,” says Drew Lerner,
meteorologist and owner, World Weather Inc. “La Niña wasn’t
solely responsible for the drought in Indiana and Illinois
during early summer last year. However, late in summer, during
August and September, La Niña reasserted itself and the drought
in Indiana and Illinois spread to other, immediately neighboring
states.” In 2011, spring started out cool and wet in Indiana,
with planting delays occurring during April and May, says Shaun
Casteel, Purdue University Extension agronomist. “Then, during
summer, we experienced drought conditions