Recent Drought Conditions
The U.S Drought Monitor classifies Indiana as having Abnormally Dry (D0; 55% of Indiana), Very anecdotally dry (D1; 39% of Indiana) and Moderate drought conditions since early June; these have been most intense in sections of the Central & Northeast part around Indianapolis where over 94% has experienced either category according to the USDM’s report was released on July 10th. The recent rains in Indiana have helped alleviate the drought situation, so only 29% of our state is currently at D0 or D1 levels. central and western parts remain with notable dry conditions because there’s been more rain lately than usual for this time period (which will likely continue). The National Climate Prediction Center is predicting that we will see below-normal precipitation amounts over the next few weeks and throughout August. In fact last spring they also favored a decreased amount but ended up delivering more than expected which means that this year with all these unusual weather patterns happening around us I wouldn’t be too surprised if there were some rain showers.
What else to consider during a drought?
When it comes to drought, there are many factors that need to be considered. For one thing, you must consider the amount of water entering your system (precipitation) versus what’s leaving via evapotranspiration or runoff – if these two sides don’t match up then either flooding will occur in areas with high rainfall while other regions experience severe shortages along this line which could lead into more serious problems like agriculture failures and food insecurity for crops. The National Weather Service produces a map that shows how much evapotranspiration will occur over the course of seven days. This is helpful for farmers and ranchers to know before they plan their irrigation needs, as it can help alleviate any wasted resources from coming too late or early in relation to upcoming rainfall amounts predicted by NWS’s forecast models.
