Forecasters call for warm spring

Put away the sweaters and get out the T-shirts; for the next 30 to 90 days temperatures are predicted to be above normal.

According to AccuWeather and the National Weather Service from Paducah, Ky., temperatures are expected to be warmer than normal between April and June for most of the United States west of the Mississippi. Precipitation is expected to be normal, if not slightly wetter.

For farmers, this news "could be good; it could be bad," said Terry Burke of the USDA Farm Service office in Jackson.

Much depends on what crops are being planted and when they get into the ground, Burke said. Right now, he said, the earliest crop that could go in would be corn, if farmers can work their ground early enough.

If the weather is warmer yet remains dry, the corn, soybeans and wheat grown in the Cape Girardeau County area will get a head start on growing.

"We can't put too much on it until we see what we actually do get," Burke said. "At least it's getting warmer."

In other areas, near-normal temperatures are expected in the Pacific Northwest and an area from the Carolinas and Georgia northward to New England.

Precipitation for the next three months is expected to be near normal over most of the northern half of the country, and above normal over New England and the Great Lakes.