CFAES Give Today
Agronomic Crops Network

Ohio State University Extension

CFAES

Weather Update: Heatwave and Scattered Storms Expected

July has brought wetter conditions to some folks across Ohio. Most areas have received 2.5 to 4 inches of rain since July 1st, with pockets of over 6” (e.g., Clinton County). Still, plenty of counties are running below average for the month (Figure 1). Certainly, cooler than average temperatures since June 1st have helped mitigate impacts from dryness, and with recent wetter conditions, drought area for Ohio has fallen to ~13% as of Thursday July 20, 2023 (US Drought Monitor). The CFAES Rapid Response Team continues to manage the drought response resource site and encourage readers to continue to submit observations and impacts for your location by visiting https://go.osu.edu/drought_cmor.

Figure 1: Percent of Normal precipitation for July 1 – 24, 2023. Figure courtesy of the Midwestern Regional Climate Center.

Forecast
This week will feature a warming trend and typical summertime unsettled weather across the region. Isolated showers and storms are possible at any time from Tuesday through Saturday, with a cold front sliding south across the region over the weekend. High temperatures will start out in the 80s for most of the state on Tuesday, warming into the low to mid 90s for Wednesday through Friday, and accompanied by higher humidity levels. The front will knock temperatures back into the 80s for the weekend. Rain will not occur everywhere, everyday, but locally heavy rain will be possible each day throughout this period. The current forecast shows 0.25-1.25 inches of rain is expected this week (Figure 2- locations of heaviest rain will likely deviate from this figure).

Figure 2). Precipitation forecast from the Weather Prediction Center for 8pm Monday July 24  – 8pm Monday July 31, 2023.

The Climate Prediction Center’s 8-14 Day Outlook and the 16-Day Rainfall Outlook from NOAA/NWS/Ohio River Forecast Center indicate that probabilities for temperatures are learning toward below average with near normal precipitation for the period of August 1 – 7, 2023 (Figure 3). We have reached our climatologically warmest conditions of the year, with an average high-temperature range of 84-87°F, a low-temperature range of 63-67°F, and average weekly total precipitation of 0.75-0.90 inch.

Figure 3) Climate Prediction Center 8-14 Day Outlook valid for August 1 – 7, 2023, for left) temperatures and right) precipitation. Colors represent the probability of below, normal, or above normal conditions.

Crop Observation and Recommendation Network

C.O.R.N. Newsletter is a summary of crop observations, related information, and appropriate recommendations for Ohio crop producers and industry. C.O.R.N. Newsletter is produced by the Ohio State University Extension Agronomy Team, state specialists at The Ohio State University and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). C.O.R.N. Newsletter questions are directed to Extension and OARDC state specialists and associates at Ohio State.

Author(s):