Nearly all of Illinois is now considered to be abnormally dry or officially in a drought.
State Climatologist Trent Ford says there was some rainfall this past week, although the precipitation was under 1/10th of an inch in the North Eastern part of the state and over an inch in some areas of Central and Western Illinois.
“The rain did very little to stop drought conditions across the state. Most places still have had less than 50 percent of normal rain since early May. The US Drought Monitor expanded moderate drought across the northern two-thirds of the state and placed almost all of Southern Illinois in the abnormally dry category.”
All of South Central Illinois is now in the abnormally dry category.
Ford says some actions are being taken as a result of the dry conditions.
“County burn bans and water restrictions are beginning to come up around the state as are widespread reports of dormant lawns, stressed trees and crops, and unusually low river and creek levels. Agriculture and water resource impacts have been limited so far because the drought took hold in late May instead of late July. However, he will want to see more consistent rainfall in June and July to avoid worsening impacts.”
Ford says, fortunately, the outlook for the rest of the month is calling for more rainfall and potential storms in mid to late June. there is a 90-percent chance of rain across South Central Illinois on Sunday. The region is in the marginal area for potentially severe weather.
