Soil Temperatures safely above 50°F
It's cooler than 24 hours ago across most of the state and is considerably cooler in eastern Nebraska. Nevertheless, soil temperatures are still on the warm side with 4" soil temperatures generally averaging safely over 50°F for the day so far. Temperatures will drop below freezing tonight across the western third of the state and may flirt with the freezing mark elsewhere in the state if winds end up going a bit lighter. But temperatures will be back to more seasonal norms tomorrow and may be straight up hot in parts of southern Nebraska on Thursday. So the risk of soil temperatures staying below that 50°F threshold for an extended period is not likely in RMA eligible areas for corn.
Figure 1. 4" bare soil temperature
Drying out
It has been a dry start to the month for most of the state, with west central and pockets of northeast Nebraska being the exception. The areas driest relative to normal are concentrated around Aurora and Stromsburg where essentially no measurable rain has fallen yet this month. Thankfully these are areas that generally got good moisture from that March blizzard and there was some improvement in drought status.
Figure 2. Percent of normal precipitation from April 1 to present
But the moisture from the blizzard wasn't enough to fully recharge soil profiles and areas where it has been driest are starting to see soil moisture percentiles slip back below the 30th and 20th percentiles. The warm, windy finish to last week didn't help matters. Some chances for precipitation exist in eastern sections of the state later in the week and better, more frequent chances for moisture appear to be in the offing starting Sunday. That would potentially close planting windows for a time but the moisture will definitely be needed by next week at this time.
Figure 3. Soil moisture percentiles
