Welcome to the start of Hurricane Season that runs from June through November each year. Why would Indiana care about hurricane season? Certainly, by the time any hurricane might impact the state, it will have been greatly downgraded to what is called an extratropical (i.e., poleward of the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° north latitude)) storm[Read More…]
Climate and Weather
We’ve made it! Meteorological summer started on June 1, but the official start of summer isn’t until June 20. The days are longer, temperatures have risen, and my allergies are in full swing. I let the dogs out last night, and there was still quite a bit of light in the sky just before 10:00[Read More…]
Precipitation in May has varied tremendously, but most of the state has generally been on the dry side. Areas from Vermillion and Parke Counties to Lake Michigan have received between 25% and 75% of the normal precipitation through May 27 (Figure 1). Conditions were dry enough that thunderstorm winds on May 16 prompted the National[Read More…]
I’ve been plotting growing degree days for Lafayette for the last 15 years or so. This year we continue to track earlier than usual. This is a trend that seems to be continuing each year. See Figure 1. If you want to look at data more closely related to your location, the Indiana State Climate[Read More…]
The last few weeks have been on the drier side, particularly for northwestern and west-central Indiana (Figure 1). While temperatures have been seasonal, they are still gradually increasing as we approach summer. Therefore, evapotranspiration rates are starting to increase. This has resulted in the U.S. Drought Monitor classifying much of northern Indiana as Abnormally Dry[Read More…]
Midwestern farmers have faced a buildup of pesticide resistance in pigweeds (waterhemp and Palmer amaranth), highlighting the importance of scouting to detect weeds early in their growth stages. Otherwise, weed escapes are a common issue as herbicides lose their efficacy when weeds are allowed to grow long enough into their growth cycle. The Midwestern Regional[Read More…]
The earlier and warmer spring temperatures we have been seeing the last few years in Indiana are continuing this year. See Figure 1. What we see is that for each year in the past 15 years temperatures have warmed up earlier than the long term average. Luckily only one year over this period was extremely[Read More…]
Wet pattern to return Despite the wet start to the month, the entire state saw less than 50 percent of normal rainfall from April 10 to 16, and in some cases, less than 10 percent of normal rainfall (Figure 1). This was helpful, especially as some locations still deal with river flood warnings and ponded[Read More…]
Indiana has already experienced several tornadoes this year with more certainly to come. Of course, this is not unusual since Indiana is often considered on the far northeastern edge of “Tornado Alley”. Tornadoes get their energy from the battle between the cooler, drier Canadian air moving southeastward and the warmer, more humid air coming north[Read More…]
Summer just had to throw us a going away party in the form of extreme heat! Temperatures soared into the 90s during the final week of August, with heat index values over 100°F for much of the state. Lafayette, South Bend, and Fort Wayne all set daily records on Tuesday, August 27th for maximum temperatures[Read More…]