by Aaron Wilson

On the afternoon of July 22, showers and a few embedded storms rolled across the Buckeye State. However, for southern and southeastern Ohio, this has largely not been the case for the past several weeks.

Precipitation over the past 30 to 60 days is running between 25% and 75% of normal, with some parts of Pickaway, Ross, Noble, Morgan, Washington, Monroe and Belmont counties receiving less than 2 inches of rain over this period.

As a result, the latest U.S. Drought Monitor depicts about 8% of Ohio in D2, or severe drought, and abnormally dry conditions or worse are being felt by about 70% of the state.

This has led to notable crop stress on drier ground, deep cracks in the ground from the lack of soil moisture, poor pasture conditions and short-cuttings of hay. Producers are encouraged to provide observations from their locations by submitting a Condition Monitoring Observer Report.

For more information and resources, visit the Drought Conditions and Resources Knowledge Exchange page, or visit the State Climate Office of Ohio.

Weather forecast

Scattered showers and storms are possible this week before high pressure and drier air moves in for the weekend. However, widespread heavy rain is not expected. The Weather Prediction Center is forecasting 0.01-0.50 inches for the state over the next seven days, although locally heavier amounts are possible. Temperatures will generally rise into the low to mid-80s each day, with overnight lows in the 60s, about average for mid- to late July.

The eight- to 14-day outlook from the Climate Prediction Center and the 16-day rainfall outlook from NOAA/NWS/Ohio River Forecast Center show temperatures are likely to be above average with precipitation probability leaning toward wetter than average.

Climate averages include a high-temperature range of 83 to 86 degrees F, a low-temperature range of 60 to 66 degrees, and weekly total precipitation of 0.90-1.20 inches.

Wilson writes for OSUE. This article is part of the C.O.R.N. Newsletter, which is produced by the Ohio State University Extension Agronomy Team, state specialists at Ohio State University, and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.