With harvest just around the corner, Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford shares a look at what September may bring. Initial outlooks point to above-average precipitation for the month, followed by somewhat drier signals in October and November.
“When we look at the whole month of September, although it does show a little bit of a wetter pattern, the latter part of the month doesn’t show that at all. So even if we do start a little bit wetter in September, hopefully there will be windows of opportunity later in the month,” shares Ford.
“When we look at the whole fall period, we start to see a bit of a drier signal into October and November. So even folks who have been inundated with rain through August and are going to have to wait a little bit longer for that crop to dry down or even get into the fields, it does look like there will hopefully be some better conditions toward the end of September and into October and November that will give us opportunities for harvest.”
Ford adds that active weather during the growing season has helped Illinois avoid widespread drought conditions heading into the fall.
