How rain is hampering planting progress

It's been a familiar sight for most of April: rain moving through Michiana.

Even though South Bend didn't see much rain Tuesday afternoon, portions of Michiana closer to U.S. 30 picked up around an inch of rain from midday downpours.

To be clear: it's still early in the growing season. However, the frequent rainy weather has been enough to delay some planting across Indiana. According to the latest crop progress report, planting of both corn and soybeans is behind the five-year average and even further behind last year's pace. Less than half of last week featured weather suitable for fieldwork across Indiana.

While a few days of dry weather look likely for the area, more rain and thunderstorms will arrive this weekend. Temperatures and humidity will increase as well, which also could mean additional downpours will visit Michiana, too.