Beth Hall

hall556@purdue.edu

3 articles by this author

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Indiana Climate and Weather Report

May 9, 2019 - From Issue:
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The biggest topic seems to be how wet it is and how much more rain Indiana can expect. So far, May has experienced near-normal precipitation throughout the central part of the state with 0.5”-2” in southern and northern regions (Figure 1).  Combining this with April’s precipitation, however, means the soil moisture is still 60mm to over 80mm above average (Figure 2), causing saturated soils and the propensity for flooding anytime precipitation occurs. Speaking of which, 0.25”-1.5” of additional precipitation is expected over the next 7 days with the lower amounts favoring the northwestern part of the state.  Could there be drying beyond that? The climate outlook for May 16-22 is indicating slight probabilities for below-normal precipitation in the northern counties, but the rest of the state is statistically uncertain to predict above- or below-normal precipitation with confidence. However, keep in mind that normal precipitation (based upon 1981-2010 data) during that[Read More…]

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Indiana Climate and Weather Report

April 11, 2019 - From Issue:
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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[Read More…]

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Indiana Climate and Weather Report

March 14, 2019 - From Issue:
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March has been welcoming Indiana like a lion with below-normal temperatures and a combination of above and below normal precipitation (see figure). Snowfall accumulated across the state ranging from less than 1” in the southwest and northwest to as much as 3-4” in the southeast part of Indiana. This precipitation has caused drought to be absent across the state, but monthly and seasonal climate outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center (https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/) suggest an increasing chance of below normal precipitation over the next few months.  While temperatures will continue to gradually warm throughout spring, there are still significant risks for a late season freeze. The typical date of the last hard (28°F or less) freeze is late March in southern Indiana to late April in northeast Indiana. However, hard freezes have occurred as late as mid-April in the southeast counties into mid-May for northern Indiana. According to the Weather Prediction Center[Read More…]

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