6Drought and abnormally dry conditions continue to improve across most of Indiana (Figure 1). There seem to be a few counties – particularly along the western border – that have not been getting as much rain as elsewhere. Those areas are still at least abnormally dry through August 8, 2023. However, additional rain events over[Read More…]
While drought has been on many people’s minds lately, Indiana has had several rain events pass through that brought much-needed moisture. Unfortunately, the entire state has not benefited evenly from these events. True to most summertime precipitation, where and when the rain falls can be quite spotty. Periodically, a nice front will pass through, but[Read More…]
After several weeks of little-to-no rain, Indiana welcomed some much-needed precipitation over the last several days. While amounts ranged from 1-to-3 inches (except for a few counties in west-northwest Indiana (Figure 1)), the state is still several inches from recovering from the deficit and relieving most impacts. The U.S. Drought Monitor this week (based upon[Read More…]
Chance for above-normal precipitation in about 2 weeks, but for this time of the year, that doesn’t mean much. Freezing temperatures and even some snow fell in Indiana earlier this week forcing us to accept that winter is coming. Figure 1 shows how much colder than normal those minimum temperatures got early Tuesday, October 18th.[Read More…]
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[Read More…]
Rainfall over the past few weeks has helped to improve drought conditions across much of Indiana. Northeastern and southwestern Indiana have benefited the most, removing previous Abnormally Dry or Moderate Drought status from the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM; Figure 1). Unfortunately, west-central Indiana and near the greater Cincinnati area have been missing out from most[Read More…]
The most recent U.S. Drought Monitor now has over 87 percent of Indiana in some level of dryness and/or drought (Figure 1). The rate this coverage has both expanded and intensified is impressive. Since at least 2012, drought specialists and climatologists have been studying “flash drought” including how to define it and therefore identify it.[Read More…]
This week has made me long for the time when I lived in Reno, Nevada. Further north and higher in elevation than Las Vegas, the climate was absolutely beautiful – particularly if you are not into green vegetation, bugs, and drink coasters. Reno was never quite as hot as Las Vegas, but still had the[Read More…]
June 1st marked the beginning of meteorological summer (i.e., June, July, and August). Time between sunrise and sunset is still increasing, temperatures are increasing, and vegetation is growing. How did this past spring compare to climatology and what is expected over the next several months? Let us start with May’s climatology. May’s average temperature across[Read More…]
Indiana has been receiving less precipitation than normal, particularly over the last 30 days (Figure 1). In fact, southern Indiana has only received 25%-50% of the precipitation amounts it normally sees during this period. One would think this would mean “Abnormally Dry (D0)” if not “Moderate Drought (D1)” classifications for the U.S. Drought Monitor. However,[Read More…]