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Did fall 2024 see longest dry spell ever?Did fall 2024 see longest dry spell ever?

The National Weather Service’s U.S. Streak tool allows you to explore past weather events and trends.

Tom J. Bechman, Midwest Crops Editor

November 22, 2024

3 Min Read
ear of corn destroyed by heat and drought
NOT A RECORD: Corn in many areas of the U.S. suffered in 2012, but June and July didn’t set records for most days in a row without rain. Intense heat plus drought cooked corn yields. Tom J. Bechman

Farmers around North Judson, Ind., went 40 days without rain — not even a trace. No rain was recorded from Aug. 10 until Sept. 18. Does that sound about right?

Given the super-dry late summer and early fall across most of the Corn Belt in 2024, you probably wouldn’t question that report. Except it wasn’t recorded in 2024. That 40-day stretch was in 2017 and is the current longest streak on record without measurable precipitation or a trace of precipitation for the cooperating National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather station in North Judson.

“We get questions like this a lot, especially when we have extended spells of weather — too dry or too wet — like we have seen recently,” says Beth Hall, head of the Midwestern Regional Climate Center and Indiana state climatologist. “Just because we have a long stretch of dry, hot or cold weather doesn’t necessarily mean we are setting records.”

Melissa Widhalm, a regional climatologist at the center, notes that when rainy days were few and far between in late summer and early fall, people began asking questions such as, “What’s the longest we have ever gone without rain?”

The questions may seem straightforward, but “the devil is in the details,” Widhalm says. Rainfall is measured to the nearest one-hundredth of an inch, but sometimes less than 0.01 inch may fall. It’s not bone-dry, but it’s not quite “measurable” either. Weather observers report this as a “trace,” she says.

If you count days between rainfall events, are trace values streak-breakers?

Different data analysis tools may handle trace measurements differently. If you see two datasets with different counts for dry streak records, they’re probably not dealing with trace measurements the same, Widhalm explains.

Weather streak tool

The National Weather Service maintains the U.S. Streaks tool that anyone can use. It allows you to find all kinds of streaks for existing NOAA weather stations.

This tool lets you select “no precipitation” or “no measurable precipitation” as a data filter option, Widhalm explains. In the U.S. Streaks tool, trace observations break the streak if you select “no precipitation,” whereas trace observations are treated like zero-inch measurements and don’t break the streak if you select “no measurable precipitation.”

Does this difference matter? The longest streak for days with no precipitation, not even a trace, for farmers around Chalmers, Ind., was not set in 2024, but in 2023, from Aug. 19 to Sept. 6. However, the longest streak without measurable precipitation, which allows trace amounts, occurred in 2015, from Oct. 4 to Oct. 27.

You also can use the tool to determine streaks for a variety of precipitation values, warm or cold temperature measurements, and even above or below normal temperatures. You can check on streaks no matter where you live in the U.S.

Study the tables below to see various streaks on record from around the Midwest.

longest dry streaks on record east table

table showing longest dry streaks on record in western Midwest states

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Weather

About the Author

Tom J. Bechman

Midwest Crops Editor, Farm Progress

Tom J. Bechman became the Midwest Crops editor at Farm Progress in 2024 after serving as editor of Indiana Prairie Farmer for 23 years. He joined Farm Progress in 1981 as a field editor, first writing stories to help farmers adjust to a difficult harvest after a tough weather year. His goal today is the same — writing stories that help farmers adjust to a changing environment in a profitable manner.

Bechman knows about Indiana agriculture because he grew up on a small dairy farm and worked with young farmers as a vocational agriculture teacher and FFA advisor before joining Farm Progress. He works closely with Purdue University specialists, Indiana Farm Bureau and commodity groups to cover cutting-edge issues affecting farmers. He specializes in writing crop stories with a focus on obtaining the highest and most economical yields possible.

Tom and his wife, Carla, have four children: Allison, Ashley, Daniel and Kayla, plus eight grandchildren. They raise produce for the food pantry and house 4-H animals for the grandkids on their small acreage near Franklin, Ind.

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