Planting Weather Forecast: Cold, Wet Conditions Continue Throughout the Week



 
As we mentioned last week, a chilly pattern is underway as we flip the calendar. Cold air put frost and freeze conditions in over the state this past Monday and Tuesday. Guess what? We are going to do it all again! Moisture that comes from Saturday afternoon through Sunday afternoon will be part of a cold front passage. Rain totals are looking to be 0.1” – 0.5” with 60% coverage over the state. However, the bigger story will be much colder air coming into the region.
This will be the coldest start to the month of May in a long, long time—Decades! And Tuesday, May 2 will be quite cold too. Frost and freeze potential is there. But, we also will see more precipitation. Low pressure gets cut off from the jet stream in the Great Lakes. This will allow for a slow moving circulation to park over Michigan and the Great Lakes from late Sunday afternoon through Tuesday. This will bring plenty of clouds and the threat of light rain and even a few light wet snowflakes to the area Monday and Tuesday. We are stressing the moisture is light…a few hundredths to a few tenths combined over the period, with the heaviest and best moisture chances coming Tuesday. Still, we are not doing any drying in there, and soil temps will likely back up just a bit. The map below shows five-day temperatures from Sunday to Wednesday vs. normal. Chilly!

Better sunshine for Wednesday and that will allow temps to ease. Warmer air will be in to finish the week for Thursday and Friday. However, we are seeing a new front on the way for Thursday afternoon and Friday. This has potential for 0.25” – 0.75” rain totals over 80% of Indiana. That will push the potential for field work back farther, as the drying again will be slow earlier in the week.
Over the weekend we should be dry with partly to mostly sunny skies. Temps stay near to slightly above normal. And then we keep the dry window into early next week for May 8 and 9.
Extended Period:
The extended 11-16 day forecast period looks dry with no new frontal passages through May 12. We may end up with a few scattered showers later on in the Mother’s Day weekend. However, as of right now, it looks like our best window of opportunity for planting and fieldwork coming up will be the week of May 8.

Weeks 3 & 4:
Precipitation looks to be near normal in weeks 3 and 4, meaning we see likely one to two rounds of moisture each week, but not excessive. Temps remain below normal both week as the average temps for the week are a good 2-4 degrees under where we should see them. However, normal are warming dramatically in the month of May, so this will not be detrimental to seed growth, at least with regard to germination.
 Week 3 Precipitation (Green = above normal, Brown = below)

Week 3 Temperatures (yellow/orange = above normal, blue = below)

Week 4 Precipitation (Green = above normal, Brown = below)

Week 4 Temperatures (yellow/orange = above normal, blue = below)



 
 

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