USDA's weekly report of export sales is due out at 7:30 a.m. CDT, the same time as weekly U.S. jobless claims, the U.S. producer price index for April and an update of the U.S. Drought Monitor. The Energy Department's weekly report of natural gas storage is set for 9:30 a.m. Traders remain close to the latest weather forecasts and will be ready for USDA's WASDE and Crop Production reports, both due out at 11 a.m. CDT. You can still join DTN's WASDE webinar at 12:30 p.m. or register at DTN.com and listen later at your convenience.
Weather
A system that produced severe storms across the Upper Midwest on Wednesday will continue to produce strong thunderstorms Thursday. Early morning thunderstorms across the Dakotas and Minnesota will give way to a broken line of strong to severe storms from the eastern Dakotas to central Kansas this afternoon that will push into the Upper Midwest in the evening and overnight hours. All modes of severe weather will be possible. Additional showers and thunderstorms will develop farther west across Montana and Wyoming as the main low pressure center deepens in the area. Elsewhere, hot and dry conditions will continue to favor spring planting, though some isolated showers will be possible in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast this afternoon.