Cold Front Brings Record Lows to East; Parts of Parched Midwest Receive

A cold front brought record cool temperatures to the sweltering Northeast on Friday and rain fell in parts of the parched upper Midwest, but hot, dry weather elsewhere continued to wither crops.

It was the eighth straight day of 100-degree heat over the central part of the nation.

Three days of dredging the Mississippi River at Memphis, Tenn., ended Friday afternoon, allowing officials to reopen the waterway and free an estimated 1,100 barges to resume their sluggish pace.

An All-Time Low

The Mississippi is at an all-time low since records were first kept in 1872. It was closed to commercial traffic from Tuesday until Friday afternoon because the channel at Memphis was 6 inches shy of the 9-foot depth needed to allow towboats and their barges to pass.

A 35-foot-wide dredge was sent in to clear the channel, and until it finished, 56 towboats and their barges were parked along a 40-mile stretch of river around Memphis. The river has fallen so low, some boats had trouble finding trees near enough to the water for mooring lines.

The last of the stalled barges should clear the Memphis area by Sunday, Coast Guard Cmdr. Mike Donohoe said. But he warned towboat operators of “trouble spots” north and south of Memphis where the water was shallow.

In normal times, 30 to 50 towboats churn past Memphis daily, pushing barges loaded with wheat, corn, fertilizer, coal, steel, gas, jet fuel, oil, chemicals, cement, auto parts and other bulk goods. It would take 27,000 trucks to haul a day’s cargo on the Mississippi, which is like a natural interstate highway.

Along the river banks, receding water has exposed several sunken boats, some of them dating back to the 1800s, authorities said.

Cool Air in Northwest

The front that ushered the cool air into the Northeast produced record lows in a half-dozen cities, including Burlington, Vt., with 40 degrees, and Atlantic City, N.J., with 47 degrees. Cool air also hit the Northwest, and Olympia, Wash., tied its record of 39 degrees.

Temperatures elsewhere, however, soared again at the end of a week that saw scores of high temperature records shattered. The sun was barely directly overhead when the temperature at Sioux Falls, S.D., hit 100 degrees and tied the record there. The overnight low at North Platte, Neb., was not too low, dipping only to a record 74 degrees.

Record high temperatures Friday included 97 degrees at Casper, Wyo., 101 at Chattanooga, Tenn., 93 at Cheyenne, Wyo., 100 at Des Moines, 101 at Kansas City, 101 at Paducah, Ky., 103 at Sioux City, Iowa, and 103 at Sioux Falls.

Overnight thundershowers spread rain over parts of Minnesota, across Wisconsin and Iowa into Illinois. Some parts of Iowa received more than 2 inches of rain before the hot air returned.

“Last week the (soy) beans and corn were all curled and shriveled, and now it looks like they’re coming back,” said Morris Greenley, who farms near Independence, Iowa. But he said he still faces a 20% cutback on his normal yields even if he gets an average of 1 inch of rain a week for the rest of the growing season.

Supply of Moisture

Steve Hollinger of the Illinois State Water Survey said as of June 15 there was “virtually no moisture available to plants in the top 6 inches of soil.” Below that, down to 40 inches, he said, there is about a two-week supply of moisture.

Forest fires fanned by hot wind blazed in Montana and Idaho. A fire in a ponderosa pine forest grew to 15,000 acres Friday in the Custer National Forest of southeastern Montana. It shifted late Thursday and trapped several firefighters, who survived by lying inside one-man aluminum fire shelters while flames passed over them, Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Michelle Ravnikar said.

At least seven North Dakota counties have banned fireworks on the Fourth of July because of the fire danger. Wisconsin on Friday banned outdoor smoking, open fires and fireworks in all state parks, forests and other state land.

Meanwhile, a plan to pour more water into the Missouri River for shipping ran aground because it would have destroyed nesting areas for endangered birds.

The Army Corps of Engineers cannot increase the flow of water from the Gavins Point Dam on the South Dakota-Nebraska border to aid shipping because that would threaten nests of the federally protected piping plover and interior least tern.

Endangered Species Law

“Our attorneys tell us the endangered species law takes precedence over the corps’ obligation to maintain navigation,” said Chet Worm, chief of reservoir operations in Omaha.

Barges are carrying reduced loads because of low water, and corps officials fear that two weeks more without rain could endanger traffic in some sections.

Dredging continued on the Ohio River near Mound City, Ill., which was closed Tuesday when a towboat ran aground in shallow water.

The drought and low water levels are causing problems for more than just farmers and shippers. Even the price of fishing is going up because nightcrawlers, a large variety of earthworm popular as bait, have gone deep underground seeking a cooler, moist habitat.

“Wholesale prices of nightcrawlers are the highest in the 46 years we’ve been in business,” said Phil Koep, who runs a wholesale bait supply business in Clitherall, Minn. By the Fourth of July, he said, the wholesale price of nightcrawlers will have doubled from a year ago.