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Drought in Lower Lakes/Ohio Valley


Geos

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State by state conditions/statistics (extreme or higher only) per last week's update versus this week's.

Kentucky

Slight decrease in extreme conditions from 22.3% to 21.5%

Essentially holds steady in exceptional conditions, 13.4% to 13.3%

Illinois

Increase in extreme conditions from 71.3% to 81.2%

Holds steady in exceptional conditions, 8.4%

Indiana

Increase in extreme conditions from 59.05% to 68.6%

Slight increase in exceptional conditions from 24.3% to 25.0%

Iowa

Increase in extreme conditions from 30.7% to 69.1%

Missouri

Increase in extreme conditions from 92.8% to 94.5%

Increase in exceptional conditions from 8.4% to 13.9%

Wisconsin

Slight decrease in extreme conditions from 9.1% to 8.95%

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No quick fixes with a drought of this magnitude.

If we could keep getting rain like we did last night once a week for a couple months. lol Problem is it looks like we will go over a week with no rain or longer again after today and if the dry heat returns we will be back to sqaure one just in time for the new outlook.

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Today's rain helps. But...I went for short hike on some state land this afternoon and noticed some very low ponds and swamps. Also the forest floor is showing signs of stress. Not much of moss or fungus on the stumps/trunks of fell'd trees. This is a testiment to the intensity of the drought we have had even this far northeast. The mighty stands of white pine look fine as expected but many of the hardwoods particularly the maples look worn out and ready for fall.

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Southwest and south Central Michigan has been like a second home to me this summer. Drought is a lot worse then in Eastern Michigan. Hopefully tonight can make up for the lack of rainfall that was supposed to happen for today. Locals in the area are desperately hoping for some rain. Lots of farming and wildlife in that area.

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3.70" at IND this August, through 10:00pm tonight. That's more than May, June, and July combined.

May: 2.70"

June: 0.09"

July: 0.83"

Total: 3.62"

Also, summer 2012 will not be the driest on record for Indianapolis. Or the second driest.

4.46" in 1893

4.53" in 1930

5.30" in 1966

5.34" in 1908

5.69" in 1940

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YEARLY: January 1 - August 9, 2012 precipitation totals and departures in Indiana

Bloomington*: 13.84" -16.82"

Evansville: 16.59" -12.20"

Fort Wayne: 17.41" -6.89"

Indianapolis: 19.90" -7.23"

Indianapolis Eagle Creek: 18.86" -7.43"

Muncie: 17.53" -8.07"

Shelbyville: 15.82" -11.88"

South Bend: 21.24" -1.39"

Terre Haute*: 13.67" -14.98"

Valparaiso: 16.30" -6.13"

SUMMER: June 1 - August 9, 2012 precipitation totals and departures in Indiana

Bloomington*: 2.09" -8.68"

Evansville: 5.21" -3.34"

Fort Wayne: 7.06" -2.44"

Indianapolis: 4.84" -4.89"

Indianapolis Eagle Creek: 5.72" -3.76"

Muncie: 5.29" -4.74"

Shelbyville: 2.77" -7.15"

South Bend: 9.94" +1.03"

Terre Haute*: 1.37" -8.84"

Valparaiso: 6.53" -2.92"

August 2012 precipitation totals and departures in Indiana (through the 9th)

Bloomington*: 0.43" -0.56"

Evansville: 2.72" +1.87"

Fort Wayne: 2.06" +0.96"

Indianapolis: 3.92" +2.99"

Indianapolis Eagle Creek: 5.09" +4.26"

Muncie: 1.71" +0.72"

Shelbyville: 2.06" +1.25"

South Bend: 1.92" +0.80"

Terre Haute*: 0.55" -0.43"

Valparaiso: 0.63" -0.57"

*indicates some days missing.

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July was "only" the 21st driest on record for Indiana. For the January-July period, 2012 ranks as the 4th driest with only 1895, 1934 and 1936 being drier. Out of those drier years, 1895 stayed dry through fall, 1934 was average-ish in fall and 1936 was one of the wettest falls on record.

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Hoosier - What about the following winters precip wise?

1895-1896 was wetter than average from MI southwestward through MO with drier than average in the Ohio Valley. 1934-1935 was dry from MI southward through the Ohio Valley. 1935-1936 was much wetter than average in the Ohio Valley, trending less wet toward MI.

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4 Words.

Drought done in Michigan.

Elsewhere, maybe not.

Not to sound like a broken record. Save your post (hm8). Ive mentioned this several times this week. The southern tier counties in Michigan are still in a drought. Even with this current system a lot of it was a miss in places like the Jackson/Battle Creek areas down to Three Rivers 0.50"-1.00" Is not a drought buster.

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Not to sound like a broken record. Save your post (hm8). Ive mentioned this several times this week. The southern tier counties in Michigan are still in a drought. Even with this current system a lot of it was a miss in places like the Jackson/Battle Creek areas down to Three Rivers 0.50"-1.00" Is not a drought buster.

BTL and JXN did a bit better than that...two day totals below:

Battle Creek: 2.13"

Jackson: 2.39"

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Hard to believe I'm borderline D3 at this point in time! - It looks nothing like a drought here. Only evidence would be the water table underground and a few low area wetlands/small rivers. This MCS this morning should help the situation out in S WI and N IL at least.

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Hard to believe I'm borderline D3 at this point in time! - It looks nothing like a drought here. Only evidence would be the water table underground and a few low area wetlands/small rivers. This MCS this morning should help the situation out in S WI and N IL at least.

those might be smoothed by county...but yeah the shoreline areas of NE IL have been pretty wet

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Extreme and exceptional category changes by state, from this week compared to last week. Indiana with the most improvement, Missouri sees a big jump in exceptional conditions.

Illinois

Exceptional: 8.2% down from 8.4%

Extreme: 79.5% down from 81.2%

Indiana

Exceptional: 16.6% down from 25%

Extreme: 46.3% down from 68.6%

Iowa

Extreme: 62.1% down from 69.1%

Kentucky

Exceptional: Unchanged at 13.3%

Extreme: 21.4% down from 21.5%

Missouri

Exceptional: 35.5% up from 13.9%

Extreme: 94.7% up from 94.6%

Wisconsin

Extreme: Unchanged at 8.95%

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YEARLY: January 1 - August 16, 2012 precipitation totals and departures in Indiana

Bloomington*: 15.73" -15.60"

Evansville: 17.84" -11.63"

Fort Wayne: 17.96" -7.18"

Indianapolis: 20.96" -6.84"

Indianapolis Eagle Creek: 20.12" -6.85"

Muncie: 18.16" -8.13"

Shelbyville: 16.19" -12.17"

South Bend: 22.97" -0.53"

Terre Haute*: 16.17" -13.10"

Valparaiso: 18.12" -5.27"

SUMMER: June 1 - August 16, 2012 precipitation totals and departures in Indiana

Bloomington*: 3.98" -7.46"

Evansville: 6.46" -2.77"

Fort Wayne: 7.61" -2.73"

Indianapolis: 5.90" -4.50"

Indianapolis Eagle Creek: 6.98" -3.18"

Muncie: 5.92" -4.80"

Shelbyville: 3.14" -7.44"

South Bend: 11.67" +1.89"

Terre Haute*: 3.87" -6.96"

Valparaiso: 8.35" -2.06"

AUGUST 2012: precipitation totals and departures in Indiana (through the 16th)

Bloomington: 2.32" +0.66"

Evansville: 3.97" +2.44"

Fort Wayne: 2.61" +0.67"

Indianapolis: 4.98" +3.38"

Indianapolis Eagle Creek: 6.35" +4.84"

Muncie: 2.34" +0.66"

Shelbyville: 2.43" +0.96"

South Bend: 3.65" +1.66"

Terre Haute: 3.05" +1.45"

Valparaiso: 2.45" +0.29"

*indicates some days missing.

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The new drought outlook is looking up for most of the subforum area. With the exception of west central Illinois.

I was in Quincy over the weekend (between Peoria and Quincy) and there is a demarcation line where it's pretty obvious where the rain stopped. The rain from last week and cooler temps went a long way to greening up much of the area but down by Quincy it is still really bad, even the weeds are looking really bad. I moved two beehives to my dad's farm to reduce some of the foraging pressure on my apiaries and I'm regretting it now unless some rain moves just a little further south.

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I was in Quincy over the weekend (between Peoria and Quincy) and there is a demarcation line where it's pretty obvious where the rain stopped. The rain from last week and cooler temps went a long way to greening up much of the area but down by Quincy it is still really bad, even the weeds are looking really bad. I moved two beehives to my dad's farm to reduce some of the foraging pressure on my apiaries and I'm regretting it now unless some rain moves just a little further south.

I can imagine that the bees are struggling this summer if there's no pollen to collect! Hopefully the drought will continue to shrink.

Meanwhile trouble is brewing on the Mississippi with low water levels.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Nearly 100 boats and barges were waiting for passage Monday along an 11-mile stretch of the Mississippi River that has been closed due to low water levels, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

New Orleans-based Coast Guard spokesman Ryan Tippets said the stretch of river near Greenville, Miss., has been closed intermittently since Aug. 11, when a vessel ran aground.

Tippets said the area is currently being surveyed for dredging and a Coast Guard boat is replacing eight navigation markers. He says 40 northbound vessels and 57 southbound vessels were stranded and waiting for passage Monday afternoon.

Tippets said it is not immediately clear when the river will re-open. A stretch of river near Greenville was also closed in 1988 due to low water levels caused by severe drought. The river hit a record low on the Memphis gauge that year.

The Mississippi River from Illinois to Louisiana has seen water levels plummet due to drought conditions in the past three months. Near Memphis, the river level was more than 12 feet lower than normal for this time of year.

Link to entire article> http://news.yahoo.com/11-mile-stretch-mississippi-river-closed-205415696.html

It would be really serious if water levels continue to drop for the economy of the Heartland!

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