LET'S TALK ABOUT RAIN...

I mentioned yesterday there isn't going to be much rain around these parts over the next couple of days. And considering we're at the halfway point of the year, I thought about checking out how we're doing on rain so far.

The chart above details the precipitation departures for the year so far. Omaha is the only city with a deficit with St. Louis and Chicago well ahead of the curve. As we have now entered meteorological summer, we have entered a rainy time of year climatologically speaking. Here's an example with the monthly normal precipitation for Cedar Rapids and also for Chicago:

There are two peaks in Cedar Rapids - one in June and one in August and August is the rainiest month in Chicago sticking out like a sore thumb. Of course these numbers are just a guide and only time will tell how the summer pans out. (In case you missed it - Terry discusses El Nino's impact on the summer and the summer trends here). Let's take a look at the short range - the expected precipitation over the next 7 days:

Not many places in the Midwest will receive even an inch of rain over the next week (with the exception of far northern Minnesota). Here's some long range models... the next 16 days on the GFS followed by the EPS -

It looks like a wetter pattern is ahead in the long range. Also a warm one. Here's the temperature departures on the EPS from June 9 to the 19:

This of course doesn't mean every day will be rainy and 90 degrees, but it's a trend through the middle of June. Things can of course change with long range models but it looks pretty summery as we head through the month of June.

Also wanted to note Terry is beginning his Into the Storm chase tomorrow and you'll be seeing updates from him and Carolyn! Wishing the team the best of luck and hoping for some new experiences and knowledge out of the 2017 chase.

RK