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Illinois Ag News Headlines |
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Illinois Is Drying Up Quickly
Illinois Ag Connection - 06/07/2023
Illinois, the No. 2 state in U.S. corn production and the No. 1 state in U.S. soybean production, is quickly running out of moisture. The combined statewide average rainfall in April and May was 5.51 inches, 2.94 inches or 35% below the normal 8.45-inch total. (Details are from the USDA Illinois state crop report.) But, within that statewide average, there are areas which were even drier. At the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Chicago, the total May rainfall amounted to 0.71 inches -- 3.78 inches below the normal 4.49 inches (84% below normal). In fact, the Chicago NWS location was even drier in May of this year 2023 than in May of the harsh drought year 2012; the last time that May precipitation failed to reach the 1-inch mark was back in 1994.
This lack of rainfall shows up in soil moisture rates. In early May, topsoil moisture was rated only 26% short to very short and subsoil moisture had a short to very short total rating of just 18%. But by the end of the month, the short to very short ratings totals jumped to 42% for topsoil moisture and more than doubled to 37% short to very short for subsoil moisture. The ground is getting dry.
Robust upper-atmosphere high pressure over north-central Canada gets the biggest share of attribution for this chronic Illinois dryness -- which is also spreading through the Midwest. Weather charts show the Canadian high's expanse as far south as west-central Illinois. A dry northerly air flow has prevented any significant inflow of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico into the Midwest, hindering the formation of storms and precipitation.
Source: dtnpf.com
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