First freeze dates usually occur starting in late September in the northern Corn Belt. (Midwest Climate Center graphic)

As we get head into the final week of August, it's time to remind ourselves of when the freeze pattern develops across the Corn Belt. I'll discuss the typical dates, and then have some comments on what the season looks like for an impact on the 2016 season.

First of all, from north to south, the last 10 days of September start the freeze procession by and large. The area of the country covered is large -- most of the Dakotas and Minnesota, two-thirds of Wisconsin, the northern half of Michigan, and the northwestern half of Nebraska along with far northwestern Iowa.

The schedule then moves to the first 10 days of October for southeastern Minnesota, southern Wisconsin, south-central Michigan, northern Illinois, the rest of Iowa except for the far southeast, almost the entire remainder of Nebraska, northwestern Kansas, and the majority of eastern Colorado along with west-central Indiana and a slice of northwestern Missouri.

The middle 10 days of October then take in southwestern and southeastern Michigan, a sliver of far southeastern Wisconsin, almost all of Ohio and