By Jim Noel
After a cold start to April the warm weather hit in a big way this last week. Temperatures now for Ohio are running 3-5 degrees below normal for April but will likely be down to a degree or two below normal by late this week for April as the warmth cancels out the early April cold. Also, since March first, temperatures are running 2-6 degrees above normal even with that early April cold stretch so this is going down as a WARM spring.
Fields getting close to being fit
Rainfall since April 1 is normal to an inch below normal.
The strong El Nino is quickly fading and will likely be replaced by La Nina this summer. La Nina events usually put stresses on Ohio summer crops so this is worth watching.
This coming week will remain warm until a storm system brings on average about 0.50 inches of rain late Wednesday into early Friday. If we get far less than 0.50 inches of rain then this could be an early indication of developing dryness. If we get far more than 0.50 inches this could signal continued decent rains into May so this is worth watching closely later this week.
For the remainder of April temperatures will continue above normal with normal to below normal rainfall. Rainfall averages an inch per week so normal rain is 2 inches. We expect 1-2 inches for the rest of April.
As for last freeze, as predicted in February and March, it appears the last hard freeze has come about on schedule in April. Indications are we can still expect a few days of frost and light freeze conditions especially north of I-70 but the last hard freeze in the middle 20s and below has probably already occurred.
Evaporation rates are above normal right now and likely to overall stay above normal into May.
The outlook for May calls for warmer and drier than normal weather.
Risk Outlook April May June
Temperatures Slighty Below Slightly Above Above
Rainfall Normal Below Below
Freeze Normal
4 inch soil Normal/Above Above Above
Evapotranspiration Normal Above Above
The latest outlook for temperatures and precipitation for the region from NOAA/NWS into the end of the month can be seen here and it shows warmer than normal along with wetter in the western corn and soybean areas but normal or drier in eastern areas.