Beth Hall

126 articles by this author

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The last several weeks have seen very little precipitation across Indiana.  Figure 1 illustrates how much was received compared to the climatological normal amount from May 9 through June 7.  The entire state received amounts less than normal (where normal would be 100 percent on the map) with central and northeastern Indiana having received less than 25 percent of normal amounts.  This has resulted in browning lawns, lowered ponds and streams, and most vegetation starting to look stressed.  Why is this happening and how long will it last?     While the El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) global teleconnection pattern is shifting from the La Niña phase (that has been around for the better part of three years, now) to the El Niño phase, it is difficult to attribute this dryness to ENSO.  Historically, ENSO phases have had weaker correlations to temperature and precipitation in the Midwest – particularly[Read More…]




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As another dry week passes, we are left to wonder when the next significant rain event will occur.  The 7-day precipitation forecast is indicating little-to-no precipitation until the end of next week where amounts are still likely to be below half an inch.  Climate outlooks beyond this next week is favoring near-normal precipitation – which may not be enough to get most counties out of their current precipitation deficit.  Temperatures seem to be wildly transitioning from above normal to below normal at a time of year when evapotranspiration rates are declining.  This could help reduce the rate of drought impacts increasing, but Indiana is still likely to see some in the form of burn bans, mild dust storms, low lakes and streams, and stressed vegetation.  With farm equipment entering fields, this could bring additional risk for unplanned ignitions. According to the U. S. Drought Monitor (USDM), abnormally dry (D0) conditions[Read More…]




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After another wet weekend and cooler temperatures to start this week, it may be surprising to hear that conditions will be changing back to warm and dry for the next several weeks.  Climate models are strongly favoring above-normal temperature throughout the rest of September with a slight favoring of below-normal precipitation.  Abnormally dry conditions continue to persist in counties across northern Indiana, but the spatial extent is gradually shrinking  (Figure 1).  It is too soon to tell if the upcoming warm and dry outlooks will be strong enough to expand and intensify those drier areas or if a few periodic rain events will be enough to keep conditions relatively stable.  Monthly (October) and seasonal (September-October-November) outlooks were released on 15 September 2022.  For both of these time frames, the outlooks are favoring above-normal temperatures to continue with below-normal precipitation across Indiana (Figure 2). With each day that passes, we get[Read More…]



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On this episode of the Purdue Crop Chat Podcast, Purdue Extension Soybean Specialist Shaun Casteel and Corn Specialist Dan Quinn welcome Indiana State Climatologist Beth Hall to discuss the weather extremes farmers have faced and might continue to face this season.