This year’s U.S. weather system started gently for the wheat crop, with blankets of snow protecting seedlings, says Joseph D’Aleo, co-chief meteorologist at forecasting company WeatherBell. “Snow and cold temperature kept the wheat in a state where it is dormant and not vulnerable,” he says.1) 2)
Even weak tropical storms have been known to knock out as much as 30% of offshore production for days at a time.3)
The storms can also threaten major agricultural crops in the southern US, including citrus groves in Florida and cotton fields in Texas, the top producing US state4)
Daily temperatures at Frankfurt airport, a proxy for the major population centres of Northwest Europe, have averaged more than 0.4 degrees Celsius below the long-term seasonal average since the start of October.
Daily temperatures at St Louis, a proxy for the Midwest and close to the population centre of the United States, have been running more than +1.6°C higher than the long-term average since the start of October: