Many area farmers and gardeners weren’t able to plant until later this year than expected because the soil was too moist after a very wet spring but now the opposite is plaguing many.

“We had a good supply of subsoil heading into the summer because of the very wet spring we had.  That moisture is just about all gone so we definitely could use some rain, actually we could have used some a long time ago but we’re still waiting for that nice big rain to come our way.  So the crop conditions are really going downhill very, very quickly with the continued dry weather and especially now with the onset of hot weather to go along with the dryness” says State Climatologist Harry Hillaker.

He says at this point, there’s not a lot that can be done and he assumes some may continue to give up.

“Obviously you can give it your best shot as far as keep watering and so forth.  In my case, trying to keep the lawn going for a while but start seeing the water bills mounting, I’m thinking ‘I don’t think it’s quite worth that much’ so I’ve left a few areas that I want to keep growing and that’s about it.  So I suspect a lot of people are probably in the same boat” adds Hillaker.

It looks like we may get a break in the extreme heat next week with temperatures dropping down to the low 80s, though there’s no measurable precipitation in the forecast.