Corn Earworm
Corn earworm migration risks remain elevated for the next five days as a favorable weather pattern in concert with increasing but not excessive trap counts in the source region leads to the potential for moth flights north into the corn-growing region. Moderate risks are in place for tonight into early Saturday morning from northern Oklahoma into eastern Kansas, Missouri, far southeast Iowa, and into western Illinois as south to southwest winds feed northeast into this region. Scattered but organized areas of rainfall may serve as insect drop zones within especially the Moderate risk area.
Low corn earworm migration risks are predicted Saturday night into Sunday morning but primarily across southern Kansas, Missouri, and central/southern Illinois as the warm front may get pushed further south than previous forecasts had indicated.
The main concern for corn earworm migration in the next five days comes next week in the extended period as south to southwest winds are predicted to really become favorable for a potentially larger scale flight over much of the corn-growing region. Moderate risks are in place initially across the Plains for Sunday-Monday, then spread east across the heart of the corn-growing region from Iowa into Illinois and points south Monday-Tuesday, and finally into the eastern Midwest by Tuesday-Wednesday. Low risks extend north into Minnesota and Wisconsin as well especially Monday into Tuesday.