Illinois fields get much needed rain, too much for some

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Illinois fields get much needed rain, too much for some

Photo by Chad Unzicker, Mason, IL

A storm system that stretched across most of Illinois yesterday brought much needed rain to many fields and too much to others.

State Climatologist Trent Ford tells Brownfield most places in northern Illinois picked up between 0.25 to 1.5 inches with higher totals in the northwest. The same goes for southern Illinois, but with an added pocket of 2 to 4 inches around Wayne, Richland and Edwards counties in the southeast, where fields had been struggling with long-term dryness.

However, between Mason and Livingston counties in central Illinois where it WAS the driest part of the state over the last 4-6 weeks, some farmers got more than they bargained for. Most of Tazewell, Woodford, McLean, Peoria and Mason counties received 3 to 5 inches with some areas reaching 7 inches in a four to six-hour period. Ford says that took care of lingering dryness, but the soil only gained a fraction of that with the rest creating runoff and flooding.

Photo by Chad Unzicker, Mason, IL

Ford says the statewide rains should replenish soil moisture and relieve some crop heat stress as the forecast calls for excessive heat into the weekend and next week.

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