June 1-5, 2001

The period June 1 to June 5 marked a return to heavy rain, after having a more normal amount in the previous week. Precipitation totals exceeded 2 inches in most of Missouri and parts of adjacent Iowa and Illinois (Figure 4). Even the drought areas near the southern tip of Illinois received above normal amounts of rain for the week (Figure 5). The region experienced another upper level low camping overhead, with Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio averaging only 2-3 field work days due to wet soils and precipitation. The state with the most short/very short topsoil moisture area is still Kentucky, but this is down to only 13% now. On the other hand, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio all have more than 40% of state farmlands with surplus topsoil moisture conditions. Therefore, there is no longer concern about short term drought in the area. Drought status has been eliminated in an agricultural sense in the Midwest, although some areas still are under hydrological drought due to a lack of subsoil moisture and groundwater (Figure 6, National Drought Mitigation Center). The main concern now is the lack of warmth and sunshine that is holding back the crops. Eastern Iowa, southern Wisconsin, and northern Illinois and Indiana were 10-12°F below normal for the period, and almost the entire Midwest was at least 5°F below normal (Figure 7).