News
No weather-related harvest delays expected for Illinois
The State Climatologist for Illinois says weather outlooks predict a mild remainder to the harvest season.
Trent Ford tells Brownfield short term projections indicate warmer and drier than normal conditions for the entire state.
“The model suggests that is likely to stick around for the majority of October so that should result in a pretty rapid dry down of crops across the state. Looking at these outlooks, I wouldn’t anticipate any significant harvest delays for most of the month of October.”
He says those above average temperatures are expected to stick around in November and December with equal chances for below, average, or above normal precipitation. He says precipitation in the winter months will be crucial to replenish soil moisture from a dry fall.
Ford says this weekend is the best chance for a wide spread frost across the norther part of the state until at least November.
Looking back at September, Ford says the statewide average was cooler than normal and precipitation had a large gradient with northwest areas getting close to 10 inches for the month and eastern areas receiving less than half of an inch.
