(Bloomberg) — Cristobal, bringing heavy rain and gusty winds to Louisiana, has been downgraded to a tropical depression but is still expected to raise the threat of flooding from Mississippi to Wisconsin.

The storm's travels in the Gulf of Mexico shut more than a third of offshore energy production there. Moving forward, though, farmers with parched fields in the western Midwest will gain from the downpours, said Don Keeney, a meteorologist with commercial forecaster Maxar.

"The net-net is beneficial for the crops, at least in the western Midwest," Keeney said. "Minnesota, Iowa and northwest Wisconsin are certainly going to get some good rains."