After dry spring, wet conditions to bring end to drought in Sangamon County

Sangamon County is likely to see the end of a long dry spell this month, with above-normal precipitation bringing to a close a period that led to drought conditions for most of the county.

Daryl Onton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln, said that the month of July will bring more chances of precipitation than what was seen in either May or June, where very little rainfall put the county and much of the area at significant drought risk.

"The one-to-two-week forecast is leaning towards above-normal precipitation," Onton said. "For July 13-19, we're still leaning towards above-normal precipitation."

He pointed out that in June, Sangamon County had just 1.37 inches of rain, more than three inches lower than normal. That was one of the contributing factors towards much of Sangamon County being placed in some type of drought designation by the National Integrated Drought Information System.

Data from NIDIS – a service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – said that as of July 6, 58.1% of all people in Sangamon County were in some form of drought, with nearly a quarter – 24.5% – in severe drought, mostly concentrated in the northeast portion of the county near Sherman, Buffalo and Illiopolis.

Some surrounding counties haven't been as lucky. Nearly all of Menard County is in significant drought, as is the entirety of Logan County. Others, like Christian County, have put up similar numbers, with 58.1% of all people there impacted by drought, with Montgomery County only have 25.2% of the population being impacted. Macoupin County, while being somewhat dry for this time of year, has no citizens in any form of drought.

How do we define drought?

How drought is determined goes back to that all-important factor of precipitation, but Onton said that a variety of factors go into whether or not a certain place is in drought, like whether or not a place is landlocked or near a body of water.

"If you were over an ocean (and) it didn't rain, it wouldn't have a lot of impact anyway," Onton said. "Over an area like central Illinois with a lot of agriculture that relies on rainfall, that can have a pretty significant impact on our economy and water supply."

NIDIS defines drought in four separate categories – moderate, severe, extreme, or exceptional. Moderate drought creates some damage to crops or pastures, with developing water shortages, while severe drought has likely damage to crops and water shortages common. No area in central Illinois is under extreme or exceptional drought conditions, where crops can be lost and water shortages can be widespread to the point of creating an emergency.

How did this particular drought develop?

Onton said that conditions were fairly good in terms of ground moisture going into the month of May. However, once that month began, it stopped raining and did not resume until the end of June, when a derecho moved in and dumped more than an inch of rain, alongside thousands of dollars in property damage.

"We were actually in a fairly good condition as we went into May," Onton said. "Most of the planting (of fields) was done and some of those crops actually got out to a very good start. Things slowly dried out, (but) we weren't doing too bad until we got into June and it continued to not rain."

Drought conditions in central Illinois peaked on June 27 with most of Sangamon County and north-central Illinois in severe drought. Onton said that Springfield and Sangamon County came on the drought scene late due to some localized rains earlier in the spring that kept moisture levels high enough long into June.

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"That kept Springfield and southern Sangamon County out of severe drought for a while until last week," Onton said.

Since the derecho hit, however, conditions are beginning to improve, providing at least one silver lining in a storm that has devastated much of the area.

"We've been chipping away pretty good at that severe drought," Onton said. "We're still looking at severe drought from the west-central point of Illinois into the Champaign area and parts of northern Illinois but a lot of that area has had some beneficial rains."

The rains themselves should have benefit in recharging many crops that were becoming stressed around the area, with Onton saying that thanks to them, Sangamon County should be out of drought before long.

"Another 2-4 inches fell over the county (last Wednesday)," Onton said. "That's going to go a long way towards erasing it for Sangamon County."

A farmer's perspective

For Auburn-based farmer Wes Seifert – who runs his operation alongside that of his father, Tim – the spring planting season started well for him, in line with Onton's observations of moisture going into May.

"We got everything in very timely," Seifert said. "Probably some of the best conditions that we've planted in the last five years, to be honest with you."

All they really needed was a nice rain shower or two during May or June to try and keep the momentum going, but nothing came about and conditions began to deteriorate for Seifert. In some of his more marginal grounds, the corn is much shorter than it typically is at this time of the year, only coming in at around 6 1/2 feet, 2-3 feet shorter than what Seifert is used to.

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"In a typical year, we're going to see it eight, nine, ten feet tall," Seifert said.

In order to fight the continual dryness, Seifert tried to spray more fungicide on his corn and keep his plants cool at night to help the crops properly metabolize despite the lack of rain.

"Potassium really helps the plant absorb the lack of water," Seifert said. "The good thing about the drought is that it definitely shows the areas of your farm that are weak and gives you a way to look at them so you know what you can improve on for the next time it gets dry."

Seifert is unsure about what the drought will mean for his yields by the fall harvest. He's heartened by the recent rains, with the crops growing exponentially following the showers.

"It just seemed like the corn grew overnight once we started to get some rain again," Seifert said. "I think we still have a lot of potential in our corn. I still think we can get an average crop. I don't think it'll be a disaster."

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Wet weather to bring merciful end to Sangamon County drought