A few parts of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are experiencing drought-like conditions, while Mid-Michigan has seen a recent dry stretch but remains in better shape after a very wet start to the year.
The combination of hot temperatures, limited rainfall, and dry air has started to impact parts of the state.
Meteorologists say the recent heat hasmade alreadydry conditions worse by allowing moisture to leave the ground faster.
WILX News 10 meteorologist Justin Bradford said despite the state experiencing the wettest June on record since 1895, Lansing has experienced no measurable rainfall in over a week and is an inch behind average rainfall for July.
“The heat really did play a bit of a part,” Bradford said. “The hotter you are when you’re already not seeing a lot of rain, the more sunlight, the more warmth is just baking the earth. It tends to dry things out quicker.”
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, about 13,600 Michigan residents are living in areas experiencing drought conditions. However, Bradford says Michigan is not currently facing widespread severe drought because of the amount of rainfall the state received earlier this year.
Bradford says March and April combined were the wettest on record for the area, helping provide enough moisture to lessen the effects of the recent dry period.
“We had near record or record rainfall in March and April both combined,” Bradford said. “That was the two wettest March-April stretch that we’ve had in Michigan.”
Since then, rainfall has become less consistent. Bradford says May and June were closer to normal, but July has been much drier.
In Lansing, where weather measurements are taken at the airport, Bradford says the area has gone more than a week without measurable rainfall and is running about an inch behind average rainfall for July.
“It’s been a little over a week since we’ve had measurable rainfall in Lansing at all, and we’re running about an inch behind average rainfall,” Bradford said. “Normally, by this point in July, we’ve seen a little over two inches of rain. We’ve only seen a little over one inch of rain in that time.”
The dry stretch is already visible for some residents, with lawns turning brown as grass struggles to get enough moisture. Farmers are also watching conditions closely as continued dryness could begin affecting crops.
“I can imagine crops are probably going to be starting to get to a point if we continue to keep up with some of these dry conditions that they won’t be in great shape,” Bradford said.
The recent weather pattern has also been connected to wildfire smoke impacts from Canada. Bradford says dry conditions outside of Michigan contributed to the wildfire activity and smoke that moved into the region, while dry air overhead made conditions more difficult.
“We’ve dealt with poor air quality too,” Bradford said. “But as far as any sort of drought is concerned, the drought monitor that we have that we usually track for U.S. drought, it doesn’t really have too much of Michigan into much more than they would normally dry at this point.”
Bradford says the state is not in a dire situation yet because weather patterns can still change and bring additional rainfall. However, the short-term forecast does not show much relief.
“The rest of this week is going to be dry,” Bradford said. “We might throw down a little bit of rain late in the weekend and into the following week, but this is definitely a dry, hot stretch.”
The next U.S. Drought Monitor update could provide a clearer picture of whether drought conditions are expanding after the recent lack of rainfall.
Bradford says he expects the updated monitorcould showsome worsening conditions.
“Since we have not had rain over the past six days, I imagine that when they update that drought monitor tomorrow, it will probably reflect at least an uptick in the drought conditions across Michigan,” Bradford said.
For now, Bradford says the biggest concern is whether the dry pattern continues.
While earlier rainfall has helped protect much of Michigan from more severe drought, continued heat and limited rain could increase stress on lawns, crops, and other parts of the environment.
This story is brought to you as part of a partnership between WKAR and Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism.