Drought Eases Temporarily

The drought seems to have eased somewhat for the area. The first two weeks of July have been good to us in rainfall. Nearly 2.5 inches of rain has fallen. However, go just a few miles down the road and conditions are as bad as ever. In Connersville, lawns are brown and dry. I imagine that we will begin to dry out in this corner of Franklin county over the next few weeks. High pressure will be building back in forcing the jet stream and the storm track to move well into Canada. I suspect the heat will be returning. If the rains continue like they have been, then temperatures will only reach 90 with high humidity. However, if the rains do not develop as they are forecast then temperatures could go into the low to mid 90's with upper 90's in some areas. It all depends on the amount of ground moisture. Higher levels of moisture in the ground translate to higher levels of humidity which prevents the temperatures from going very high. Dry air is easier to heat than moist air.

The US Drought monitor still has us in the moderate drought category, but I think abnormally dry would be a better description for Northwestern Franklin county.