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Precipitation over the past week mostly defied the projections as the areas with the most precipitation and largest soil moisture improvements were generally noted over the northern third of the state. The biggest winner was at Elgin, which received over 2 inches of rain and went from an SMI and deficit of -3.9 and -0.86 respectively to an SMI and surplus of 1.0 and 0.22 respectively. Other sites in the northwest, north central, and northeast also had slight to modest improvements with the combination of the precipitation and cooler temperatures that lasted most of the week. 

 

Soils continued to slowly dry over most of the remainder of the state and the number of stations with an SMI below 0.0 currently stands at 14. With temperatures expected to remain relatively hot for most of the week statewide, most locations would need at least an inch of rain to not increase the deficit or decrease the surplus. The WPC does give most of the east a good shot at rain (mostly midweek) but suspect the more copious amounts will be more localized than widespread, as is often the case with mid-summer precipitation in the Central Plains and Western Corn Belt. 

 

** The Soil Moisture Index (SMI) is based on the estimated field capacity and wilting point at three depths (10 cm, 25 cm, 50 cm) at Automated Weather Data Network (AWDN) sites under grass cover. The index may not necessarily be representative of conditions of a nearby field, particularly if differences in total precipitation over the previous week have been significant. **