Reuters/ChicagoHot, dry weather for the next two weeks will continue to stress corn and soybean crops in the western and northern US Midwest, although improving odds for rainfall in the east offered some hope to struggling soybeans, meteorologists said yesterday.“The rains will be too late for corn but it will help soybeans. We see upwards of an inch to 1-1/2in (of rain) this week and again next week for Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky,” said Don Keeney, meteorologist for MDA EarthSat Weather.A midday run of the weather forecasting models boosted expectations for rain in the middle of next week, said Jason Nicholls, meteorologist for AccuWeather. The new forecast calls for rains of 0.2 to 0.7in around the region, up from earlier outlooks of 0.1 to 0.6in.“The front for Wednesday and Thursday of next week looks slightly wetter, (but) not a drought buster,” Nicholls said.Grain prices pared gains after the new forecasts, with November soybeans turning lower after marking a session record high of over $16 per bushel. Corn prices, which came within a whisker of their nearly $8 all-time peak, was marginally higher.However, the drought is spreading into the western and northwestern crop belt, leading to further stress and more crop losses.Keeney said hot, dry weather would remain the norm for the next two weeks in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, the Dakotas and southern Wisconsin.“Temperatures will get up to 100 (degrees Fahrenheit) today in Chicago and 102 in St. Louis,” he said. Cooler temperatures in the 80s and 90s are expected by the weekend, but hotter weather is likely to return next week.The expanding drought, now considered the worst in over a half century, punished the US corn crop last week.