May 21st through June 10th was quite the dry spell across Ohio, with moderate drought conditions declared across 62% of the state by the US Drought Monitor on June 8th.
As we know, weather and climate impact agriculture in significant ways. Please join us for our first in a series of three webinars on January 19, 2023 from 8-9 a.m. as we explore the impacts of extreme weather and climate on diseases with Drs. Pierce Paul and Aaron Wilson.
The calendar has turned to October, and with it, harvest and fall activities will accelerate over the next few weeks. We have already experienced a few chilly nights this past week with patchy frost in some areas, but when do we typically see our first freeze conditions? This first (last) official freeze is defined as the first fall (spring) day where the overnight low reaches 32°F.
After making landfall as a destructive Category 4 storm with winds to 155 mph along the southwest coast of Florida last week and another landfall in the Carolinas, the remnants of Hurricane Ian skirted across our far southeastern counties over the weekend with generally light rain and gusty winds (Figure 1). Elsewhere, lake-effect rain showers earlier in the week impacted counties in the northeast, but much of the state was dry. Temperatures have been running 3-10°F below normal for the past 7 days as well.
Summary:Â Precipitation across Ohio to start August has varied widely across the state (Figure 1). Wet conditions have prevailed across much of northwest and southeast Ohio (blue and purple shading), while dryness remains across portions of northeast and southwest Ohio (yellow and orange shading). After above average warmth for July, especially with overnight lows, a cooler pattern settled in across the state over the weekend. Low temperatures fell into the upper 40s to low 50s across much of Ohio on Saturday morning.
After a drier June and wetter July, August is shaping up to be the tail of two months with the first half normal to slightly wetter than normal followed by drier for the second half of August.