INDIANAPOLIS — We have wrapped up Meteorological Summer in a rainfall deficit. Meteorologists begin Meteorological Summer on June 1 and Meteorological Fall on September 1 to keep records consistent. For the summer months, we picked up 8.72″, 3.85″ below where should have been for the summer months.
So far for the month of September, we have picked up 0.30″ of rainfall, which is 0.41″ below where we should be so far. Showers and storms coming this weekend should help with our deficit.
There are still no moderate drought conditions across the state as there were during the summer months. We did decrease in drought coverage from last week! We dropped from 45% coverage to 31% coverage.
What does this mean? Each category means there will likely be different impacts from different factors around the state. “Abnormally dry” usually means the grass will turn brown, gardens will need to be watered more frequently, and crops are stressed. Once we hit the “Moderate” drought stage, there are more noticeable changes. Crops become more stressed, your lawn needs to be watered more often, and water levels begin to decrease.
The higher up the scale the drought goes, the more severe the impacts will be to crops, your lawn, and water levels. As we continue to climb the scale on the drought monitor, more dangerous conditions also begin to set up, causing concern for fire.
