Weekend rain only puts a dent in the deficit
Hopefully you were able to enjoy your weekend and get outside, but some rain may have interrupted your plans. A few of us over the weekend picked up quite a bit of rain, thanks to very isolated downpours yesterday afternoon and evening. Others, maybe only a couple miles away, saw absolutely nothing. But, that still has not been enough to bridge the large gap present with our July precip numbers. Officially at the South Bend Airport, the latest data shows that we're still more than an inch and a half below average for the month of July and our summer season numbers are also suffering.
Depending on where the heavy downpours set up, some in Michiana saw near an inch or more. Others got next to nothing.
Even with the rainfall over the weekend and what's expected today, we're still forecasting an overall dry spell over the next several days. The Climate Prediction Center has Michiana under a slight chance of below average rainfall throughout the rest of July and it's possible that that trend will continue into the first 10 days of August. This doesn't mean we won't have any rain, just not enough to continue to make up ground. As the dry ground looks to stick around, burn bans and fire weather alerts may come back.
Below average rainfall amounts could continue throughout July and into August based on this outlook from the Climate Prediction Center.
Be sure to be mindful of the dry ground around you if you are burning in the next several weeks and always remember to put out those cigarettes properly. Small fires can still pop up, all you need is a spark or ember and a patch of dry grass.