Nearly a Week of Drying Needed Before Planting Resumes

by | May 2, 2016 | HAT News Feed

Hoosier Ag Today by: Andy Eubank

Dry pattern arriving

Wet unplanted field-16With all the rain and the cooler temperatures in recent days, what has happened to soil temps around Indiana? We know the soils are wetter, but the actual temperatures may not have changed much. Ryan Martin is HAT chief meteorologist.

“When you look at our daytime highs we’ve been basically in the 50’s to near 60 even as the moisture has come in, so I think we’ve held those soil temperatures fairly steady. Maybe we lost as couple of degrees, but it’s not anything that has put us into trouble on the soil temperatures. In terms of moisture right now we’ve had quite a wide range of rainfall across the state fitting in with my estimates. We’re anywhere from a half to maybe an inch and a half in general. I did hear some 2 inch totals in a few areas of the state, so I would say that soil moisture levels are in the surplus right now.”

In recent travels Martin witnessed ponding especially in the central part of the state both north and south of Indianapolis. So the state is definitely at a moisture surplus and the maps confirm that.

“All the maps that I’m looking at have us above normal and definitely wet,” he said. “I think we have to look at putting together 4, 5, 6 days of complete dryness before we can get this soil profile back to where we can get back to work.”

And when does that stretch of dry weather move in? Martin thinks that might be this week.

“I’m a little bit at odds with some of the computer models that are out there. The models are trying to bring in some scattered moisture over the northern half to third of the state Wednesday, and then another system that comes through on Sunday. I think that’s too much. I like us moving into a dryer pattern where we could be dry Tuesday right on through the early part of next week. I don’t have a real big system coming through until next Wednesday.”

If he is wrong and there is rain on Wednesday, it shouldn’t be too consequential but would increase the rain chances on Mother’s Day this Sunday. Martin says temps in the upper 70’s to near 80 this week and weekend will be very helpful in promoting drying.

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