By C.J. MILLER
Hoosier Ag Today
Indiana’s drought conditions have improved slightly as anywhere between four-tenths to six inches of rain fell across the state last week. However, more than half of the state still remains under a drought.
“Even though we are seeing some rain coming in, it’s going to take a while to fix the problem,” says Dr. Beth Hall, Director of the Indiana State Climate Office at Purdue University.
According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor map, 51 percent of the state is under a “moderate drought”— which is a drop from 80 percent last week. Also, 27 percent of Indiana is experiencing a “severe drought”— a drop from 33 percent from a week ago.
Dr. Beth Hall, Director of the Indiana State Climate Office at Purdue University. Photo courtesy of Purdue University.
Hall says the recent rainfall has helped, but the lack of moisture for May and June has still set us behind for the growing season.
“That explains why we’re holding steady and that we’re not seeing conditions worsen at the moment,” says Hall. “Climate outlooks are forecasting this continual pattern, so I’m hoping that things will stay steady if not gradually improve.”
She says the climate forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for the rest of July shows an improvement in weather conditions.
“What their models are suggesting is cooler than normal temperatures are favored over the next several weeks. We’re talking temperatures that could be a little bit more tolerable,” according to Hall. “The better news is these models are also favoring above normal precipitation and the confidence in that is relatively high.”
However, Hall adds that the climate forecasts projected by NOAA for August and September may go the other way.
“We don’t have that confidence in precipitation for the full season. The temperature outlook also looks to be above normal. The confidence of above normal temperatures is fairly strong, so that tells me that perhaps for August and September, we should expect warmer and drier conditions,” says Hall.
