Planting Weather Forecast: Dry Weather Pattern Throughout Most of the Week

A large part of Michigan will be dry for the first six days of this planting forecast. All precipitation for this weekend stays largely south of the state. We won’t rule out a few widely scattered shower Sunday midday and afternoon in far southwest Michigan, but that is all. High pressure is being analyzed in over most of the rest of the Great Lakes this weekend, meaning we see decent drying. Temps will stay normal to above normal.

Dry weather continues for Monday through Thursday of this week. We are sunny and warm with near maximum evaporation. Conditions should be nearly perfect for fieldwork in many locations at some point through this week. Friday a cold front sweeps through the state, bringing .1”-.5” rain potential over lower Michigan, but much heavier rain (2”?) potentially in the UP, particularly the western half of the UP. We end up with statewide coverage at 90% coverage. However, we clear out quickly overnight Friday night.

This weekend will be sunny and dry again. A bit cool for Saturday, but generally we see temps bounce on Sunday the 21^st. Drying will resume rapidly. The sunny, warm and dry pattern continues into start of the week of the 22^nd. The map below shows total rain for the week next week – all of it coming Friday.

Extended Period:

The extended 11-16 day forecast period features continues the dry pattern into the start of the Memorial Day weekend. We do not see our next front showing up until late Saturday the 27^th into Sunday the 28^th. Rain totals from that complex can be .25”-1” with 80% coverage over the state. The pattern should dry a bit for Memorial Day and the start of the following week.

Weeks 3 & 4:

Weeks 3 and for look near to slightly below normal on precipitation, and near normal on temperatures. There is not a big story here on planting as we finish out May and move through the first half of June.

Week 3 Precipitation (Green = above normal, Brown = below)