The rain seems to keep falling, barely providing time for things to dry out and start planting! The last few weeks has experienced up to 2” above normal precipitation – particularly for west-central and southern Indiana, which is near the 125th-125th percentile. Warm days seem to be relatively few and far between, causing a slow start to growing degree-day (GDD) accumulations. While it is still early in the season, Indiana has only accumulated about 30-60 GDD units, with the few amounts to the north. Hard freezes (<= 28°F are still in recent memory, with the most recent hard freeze occurring just last week (April 1-3). For April 8-16, precipitation forecasts are predicting 1.5”-2.5” of rain, with the higher amounts expected in the southern half of the state. There is still a 25-50% chance of a 32°F freeze occurring in southern counties and over a 90% chance of a freeze occurring in the northern half of the state (see Figure).
Dr. Beth Hall is the new Indiana State Climatologist. She can be reached at bethhall@purdue.edu or (765) 494-8060.
Figure 1. Probability of a 32°F freeze still occurring after April 9th.