A progressive weather pattern will continue over the next 2-3 weeks. This will allow for periods of dry conditions to be mixed with periods of wet conditions. This week should see many dry hours to allow for planting to be hit hard. While a cold and damp April put things behind schedule, we will continue to see things catching up to normal with mild and drier conditions.
The outlook for the rest of May is slightly above normal temperatures with rainfall slightly above normal north and slightly below normal south.
The outlook for summer continues to call for slightly above normal temperatures with slightly below normal rainfall. However, as is often the case, we expect high variability in summer rainfall this year with stretches of dry next to stretches of wet conditions. Northern areas will likely get clipped by some flooding events around the edge of the heat dome over the summer.
Over the next 2-3 weeks, rainfall will average 1-3 inches with normal being about 2.5 inches. Some places will be a bit wetter and others somewhat drier than normal. However, everyone should see some rainfall for the rest of May. See the attached 16-day rainfall map attached for more info.
Finally, soil temperatures have been quickly responding to the warmer air temperatures by finally returning to around normal values.