Ryan Martin’s Indiana Ag Forecast for August 21, 2018

More rain today as low pressure finally sweeps by to the north and west. Several fronts coming out of the low will work through the state. The heaviest rains developed overnight and may continue for a time this morning before we transition to a more scattered and lighter batch of precipitation that lingers through the rest of the day up to midnight tonight. Rain totals today can bring an additional .25”-1”, with locally higher rains due to thunderstorms. The precipitation around this low is very “banded”…meaning we see rains start and last a while as they train over the same geographical area for a while before sliding through. Everything still should be done well before sunrise tomorrow morning.

Behind the front, we keep our forecast dry for Wednesday through the rest of the work week. We should see dominant sunshine in the Wednesday through Friday period, and excellent drying after the rains we pick up today and tomorrow. A strong high-pressure dome will move overhead during the period.

Our forecast for the weekend and now the start of next week is wetter this morning. Scattered showers and thunderstorm chances have increased for the overnight Friday night and the action can continue on-and-off through Saturday. Rain totals are not that impressive, with a few hundredths to .4” over about 60% of the state, but we are seeing scattered light action linger into Sunday as well. In fact, there is a threat of thunderstorms across the state overnight Saturday night. Another frontal complex works across Michigan Sunday night into the start of Monday, with showers and thunderstorms likely through early Tuesday morning. Combined, we can see rains there over 70% of the state, with rain totals of .25”-1” This is a much wetter outlook for the region, which will impact hay and forage operations…as there just not much of a window to put anything down. The map above shows the total rain potential through next Tuesday.

Dry for the balance of Tuesday through Wednesday and the first part of Thursday. We have another minor disturbance coming in from late Thursday afternoon through Friday to finish the month. Rain totals will be around .25”-.5” with coverage at 70%. No change for the rest of the extended period, with a compact little low crossing Michigan for Labor Day and dragging a cold front across Indiana. That will have a potential for .25”-1” over 80% of the state right at the end of the extended forecast window.

Temperatures continue to show no concerning trends. In fact, we should stay mostly normal through the rest of the month, with highs from the upper 70s through the mid-80s for the period. Normals are from 79-83.