Last week, temperatures were higher than normal, and the lack of precipitation was causing lawns to turn brown, creek and lake levels to drop, and some crops to start showing stress.
Beth Hall
As I write this article, in a cool, air-conditioned office, I hear others talking about how hot it is outside. I see weather app icons showing bold suns that stress how sunny and hot conditions are and will continue to be.
I have been seeing a lot of reports around the state about overly wet conditions with impacts such as running field tiles, high-leveled lakes and streams, field ponding, and difficulty getting into the fields for planting.
There is some very exciting news this week for Indiana with respect to the U.S. Drought Monitor. For the first time since April 25, 2023, the entire state is void of any Abnormally Dry (D0) or Drought (D1-D4) conditions.
There was an interesting conversation among drought experts this week about how best to communicate drought, particularly when surface conditions appear so saturated.
Something exciting happened this past Monday that many of you might be glad is over and no longer filling your news feed – the total solar eclipse.
An old saying predicts that March will go out “like a lamb”. Another saying predicts April’s wetness with “April showers bring May flowers”.
Certainly, this incredible inconsistency that our atmosphere has been exposing us to is not unusual for the Midwest. That does not make it any less jarring, though, to go from needing to wear sweaters and a coat to then forgetting that coat at the office because the weather got warmer.
To say the last few months have been dry is a bit of an understatement. Since August 1st, only a sliver of Newton and Benton counties (northwest Indiana) and the tiniest speck of Warrick County (southwest Indiana) have had above-normal precipitation.
Our dry spell continues. Sure, there’s been a few passing showers, but Indiana is quickly seeing impacts magnify from the lack of rain.
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