It’s getting a little dry out there…
Uh, Ron, are you insane? All it’s done is rain this summer.
Well, yes and no. There have been a lot of rainy days this summer, and it’s seemed like it’s rained a lot, but lately, as is often the case in summer, it has varied pretty widely.
Here is a map of rainfall over the past seven days.
As you can see, many areas have had 2 to as much as 6 inches of rain over the past week. That’s a lot of rain! However, see that dark blue spot where Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana come together? That dark blue spot is less than a half inch over the past week.
Here is the two week map:
This map shows that some areas have gotten 5 to as much as 12 inches of rain (red and purple respectively) over the past 14 days! Build an ark! However, that lighter yellow at the juncture of the 3 states is just 2 inches or so. Not a drought by any means, but barely normal for a two week period in July, and that includes much of western Hamilton County.
Here is the 30 day rainfall map:
This one is pretty generous to everyone. However, that same area, including western Hamilton County, got less rain, albeit 5-6 inches, while the darkest purple areas got in excess of 15 inches! A few areas in eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia has less than 3 inches of rain over the past 30 days, well below normal.
All this to point out that we’ve had good rain this summer. Some people are losing crops and gardens. Others are actually dry and, with limited rain in the 7 day forecast, dare I say some may need to water? Especially new transplants, containers, and vegetable gardens. Summer in the Ohio valley!
