Above are the current soil conditions for the state – most of the lower peninsula continues to be abnormally dry to having a moderate drought.
We most often think about drought in relation to precipitation, assessing the degree of dryness (in comparison to a local or regional average) and the duration of the dry period. This is known as a meteorological drought, which is highly specific to a region as average precipitation may vary considerably spatially.
We can also think about hydrological drought, or how decreased precipitation affects streamflow, soil moisture, reservoir and lake levels, and groundwater recharge.
Farmers are most concerned with agricultural drought when available water supplies are not able to meet crop water demands. Agricultural droughts can occur for a variety of reasons, including low precipitation, the timing of water availability, or decreased access to water supplies. For instance, earlier snowmelt may not change the total quantity of water available but can lead to earlier runoff that is out of phase with peak water demand in the summer. Thus, it is possible to suffer an agricultural drought in the absence of a meteorological drought.
There are many causes for drought conditions which I have written about in previous blogs in regards to lack of storms in our area due to global weather patterns – below is the NOAA guess for August.
Hurricane Update
NOAA forecasters are now calling for 9 to 13 named storms in the Atlantic with winds of 39 mph or higher, of which 4 to 7 will strengthen into hurricanes. Of those storms, there may be up to 2 major hurricanes, which are classified as Category 3, 4 and 5 with winds of 111 mph or higher. So far this year, there have been four named storms, including two hurricanes. The NOAA says that an average hurricane season contains 12 named storms, including six hurricanes and three major hurricanes.
To produce the seasonal update, forecasters take several factors into account. El Nino is now much more likely to develop with enough strength to suppress storm development during the latter part of the season. Today, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center updated its forecast to a nearly 70 percent likelihood of El Nino during the hurricane season.
Additionally, sea surface temperatures across the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea have remained much cooler than average. A combination of stronger wind shear, drier air and increased stability of the atmosphere in the region where storms typically develop will further suppress hurricanes. Storm activity to-date and the most recent model predictions also contribute to this update. Historically over 90% of all hurricane activity occurs after August 10th.
Finally, an evening that we can open the windows and turn off the a/c. Nice to have low humidity for once.
Look to the sky this weekend for the Perseid meteor shower.
I have only used my AC about 5 or 6 times all year!
Well if you don’t mind sweating constantly in the humidity and feeling totally drained trying to work on anything, then this has been the Summer for you. Everyone I know has had some of the highest electric bills they’ve ever seen, not counting 2012.
I just got the highest bill I have ever had. My daughter told me they did too. It has not only been hot but humid a lot.
I have utilized my pool and a fan. Electric bills are about normal!
Looking good!!!
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/WK34/gifs/WK34temp.gif
This has not been that bad of a better summer! A few more 90 degree days than normal but a lot of days like today! Can you say this is a perfect summer day? INCREDIBLE!
What a warm summer! Well above average in terms of 90 degree days, no big cool spells whatsoever, and lots of sun. I think that combination is why lake temps are so unusually warm this summer.
It has been noted that so far this year Grand Rapids has had 17 days of 90 or better. With 8 in July 4 in June and 3 in May. I just looked to see how may days this summer we have had 1. at 85 or better and 2. 87 or better. Well this July Grand Rapids had 16 days of 85 or warmer that is well down the list the top year was July of 1921 with 29 days. For June Grand Rapids had 6 days of 85 or better the record is 18 in 1934. In May Grand Rapids also had 6 days of 85 or better the record is 13 in 1977. At the 87° mark this July GR had 12 days the record is 26 in 1921. For June this year it was 4 the record is 18 in 1894. We had a very warm May and this year we had 4 days of 87 or better with the record being 9 in 1977. 2018 had the 7th most days of 87 or better in recorded history at GR. I just posted this to show you how this summer compares to some in the past.
Slim
Nice work Slim! Again, I’d love to see the stats on dew points since much of this year has felt miserable even when the temps aren’t as high. The temp might be 84, but if the heat index is 91, you feel the 91 and not the 84. That is why we have left our air on for months now, to keep the humidity out of the house. Even the mornings have felt gross when it’s only 70 out, but the dew point is also 70.
I also think this year has been very humid. I will take a look at how the lows stack up some time before or at the end of the summer and see how that looks for this year. I have already looked at the cooling degree days and that stacks up close to the average mean so far. Hint the top 5 CDD days for a whole year are 1921 with 1200 2. 1931 with 1061 3. 2012 with 1039 4. 1936 with 1022 5. 1934 with 1007. So far this year the # is at 577 but we still have August, September and October yet to go.
Slim