So far for the month of May, temperatures across the state vary by nearly 2˚F above normal in the southeast and almost 3˚F below normal in the extreme northwest. Similarly, the same trends can be seen in the Modified Growing Degree Days as they are based on temperature (Fig 1).
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- Fig 1: Modified Growing Degree Days
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- Fig 2: May Precipitation Deviation from Normal
The main story continues to be the precipitation for most of the state. Since January 1, precipitation is between 3 to 9 inches above normal in spots. Adding observed near normal to slightly above normal precipitation for the month in some areas is really delaying folks in the agriculture industry (Fig 2). Looking at the short term outlook from the Climate Prediction Center (Fig 3 & 4), much of the state has above normal chances for seeing above normal temperatures and precipitation over the 6 to 10 day and 8 to 14 day outlooks. Our active weather pattern doesn’t look to change at least within the next couple of weeks. One good thing is that temperatures look to rebound to the 70s and 80s which may help with the drying process. Any windows that do open for agricultural activity appear to be limited in the short term.
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- Fig 3: 6-10 Day Temperature Outlook https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/
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- Fig 4: 6-10 Day Precipitation Outlook https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/
