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S Illinois | There maybe some overestimation of what normal rainfall in the east in summer time is. Take for example Champaign IL. Its climate average is 12.5" of rain in June-Aug. The Omaha NE average is 11.5". Most of the difference with these large yearly rainfall total discrepancies between west and east occur in times out of the growing season. So areas back east will never experience droughts that affect the next growing season. But in season lack of rainfall events do cause yield losses.
25-28" of precipitation is the normal cited amount needed to maximize a corn crop. Soils can hold between 8-10" of plant available moisture. No matter how much precipitation falls prior to or after a crop, 8-10" is all that can be banked. All places are therefore dependent on summer rainfall(or irrigation) to make a crop. The 10" of rainfall we received in April has zero bearing on whether we enter a drought or lack of precipitation in July leads to yield loss(Edit: It could be argued that more rainfall will be required in summer due to shallow rooting and pushed back planting date from all that rainfall, but April is a little early. May/FH June is the time where saturation can really be a hinderance to a crop). I agree tile that has stopped running is a poor indicator of plant available soil moisture.
Climate data link. https://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/champaign/illinois/united-stat...
Edited by w1891 6/19/2025 09:27
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Flash Drought
