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An odd week for the drought index, but drought is worsening

Interesting how the extreme drought decreased this week over southwest Ohio in the US Drought Monitor despite the lack of rain.  I can only take these indices so seriously.  Suffice to say it’s very dry and getting drier.  Moderate and severe drought coverage expanded slightly this week.  Areas which got rain a couple weeks ago are getting quite dry again.  The Palmer Drought Index has more accurately depicted drought this year across the area.

 

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Extreme drought in parts of the area

 Anyone who doubts just how dry this summer has been in some parts of the area need only look at this three month precipitation summary beginning on June 1, 2012, and ending Thursday, August 22.  Western Butler and northwestern Hamilton county are in extreme drought, with severe drought in eastern Butler county and central Hamilton county.  Southeastern Hamilton county has had adequate rainfall this summer and is not in drought.

Station Number : OH-HM-5 Station Name : Cheviot 0.9 SSE
< June 2012 >
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
27 28 29 30 31 1Precip: 1.94 2Precip: 0.22
3Precip: 0 4Precip: 0 5Precip: 0 6Precip: T 7Precip: 0 8Precip: 0 9Precip: 0
10Precip: 0 11Precip: 0.04 12Precip: 0.40 13Precip: 0 14Precip: 0 15Precip: 0 16Precip: 0
17Precip: 0 18Precip: 0.21 19Precip: 0 20Precip: 0 21Precip: 0 22Precip: T 23Precip: 0
24Precip: 0 25Precip: 0 26Precip: 0 27Precip: 0 28Precip: 0 29Precip: 0 30Precip: 0.47
Station Number : OH-HM-5 Station Name : Cheviot 0.9 SSE
< July 2012 >
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
1Precip: 0.05 2Precip: 0.11 3Precip: 0 4Precip: 0 5Precip: T 6Precip: 0 7Precip: 0
8Precip: 0 9Precip: 0.02 10Precip: 0 11Precip: 0 12Precip: 0 13Precip: 0 14Precip: T
15Precip: 0.22 16Precip: 0.04 17Precip: 0 18Precip: 0 19Precip: 0.29 20Precip: 0.25 21Precip: 0.01
22Precip: 0 23Precip: 0 24Precip: 0.01 25Precip: 0.20 26Precip: 0 27Precip: 0.31 28Precip: 0.45
29Precip: 0 30Precip: 0 31Precip: 0
Station Number : OH-HM-5 Station Name : Cheviot 0.9 SSE
< August 2012 >
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
29 30 31 1Precip: 0 2Precip: 0 3Precip: 0 4Precip: 0
5Precip: 0.02 6Precip: 0.23 7Precip: 0 8Precip: 0 9Precip: 0 10Precip: 0.50 11Precip: 0
12Precip: 0 13Precip: 0.01 14Precip: T 15Precip: 0 16Precip: 0 17Precip: 0.09 18Precip: 0.08
19Precip: 0 20Precip: 0 21Precip: 0 22Precip: 0 23Precip: 0 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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Drought Impact Report

Over the past week, total rainfall has been 0.18. While temperatures have been cooler, they have still averaged quite warm with moderate to high drying rates. I am observing an overall worsening trend in drought conditions which were already severe a week ago. Even areas East of me which got more rain a few weeks ago are getting much dryer again. Un-irrigated areas are parched. Even established trees are showing early color or wilting due to the now 2 month drought. Conditions are very bad. This drought has also caused great hardship to landscapers who depend on lawn mowing during the growing season. Many lawns are dormant. This inactivity extends to mower repair shops which not only have less to repair but find that financially strapped contractors defer maintenance on other things.

http://www.cocorahs.org/ViewData/ListDroughtImpactReports.aspx