National Weather Service Update

Here's what Jim Noel with the National Weather Service has to say about the upcoming weather pattern:

Well, most of you probably do not want to hear from us right now. La Nina is rearing its ugly head. Historical data points to lower crop yields in years with La Nina events, especially for corn. Wheat and soybeans can go either way. We hope to present this research at the annual National Weather Association meeting this October in Louisville. Most of the time it is a wet and cool early spring followed by a dry early summer that causes this.

However, the exceptional wet winter and early spring means subsoil moisture levels are full. Hence, even some rain is filling things up to where it is causing issues.

It appears after a 3 week dry spell in April, May has opened with cool and moist conditions. It looks like this will linger for 2 more weeks. Not great news. This is against historical data which supported a near normal temperature May and below average rainfall. In fact, it is going to go down as a cool May with near normal rainfall and pockets of above normal rainfall. The real problem is the frequency of systems. They are coming every 2-3 days. The pattern is one not of real heavy and flooding rains, but frequent rainfalls. Expect another system Wednesday statewide mainly under 0.50 inches, another one in southern Ohio later Thursday or early Friday and another over the weekend and another next week.

In summary...Below normal temperatures and near normal rainfall with frequent light to moderate rains can be expected the next 2 weeks. It appears a warmer and drier pattern will close out May into early June.