Scattered rains expected in Corn Belt this week

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scattered rains are likely in the U.S. Midwest this week, but nothing as heavy as the extended soaking that caused widespread flooding earlier this month, a forecaster said on Monday.

An unsettled weather pattern should generate scattered to widely scattered rains across the Corn Belt from Wednesday to Saturday, with total accumulations during that period of 0.5 inch to 2 inches.

"It's a better forecast in that it doesn't appear to favor persistent heavy rains," DTN Meteorlogix forecaster Mike Palmerino said.

"Both areas of the Corn Belt will go through unsettled weather, and any spots having some flooding issues that get another inch, it certainly isn't going to help," he said. "But it doesn't appear to be a pattern that is going to totally re-establish another round of flooding."

Conditions should turn drier for the upcoming weekend, he said.

Below-normal temperatures were forecast through Tuesday, with highs in the low-to-mid 80s Fahrenheit, followed by a warm-up Wednesday to Saturday, with highs into the mid 80s to low 90s.

The weekend should be cooler, with highs easing back to the upper 70s to 80s.

The DTN Meteorlogix six-to-10-day forecast for June 28 to July 2 called for temperatures to average normal to above normal in the western Midwest and normal to below normal in the east.

Both halves of the region should see normal to above-normal rainfall.

This past weekend brought scattered light rain and showers, producing 0.25 inch of rain or less in the western Corn Belt, and 0.25 to 1 inch of rain in the east. Temperatures were near to below normal, with highs in the low to mid 80s F.

(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen, editing by Matthew Lewis)