GNATS, MOSQUITOES, AND LOTS OF MOWING...

I'm sure that it comes as no surprise that much of the central U.S. is experiencing one of its wettest years on record. The graphic below shows all of the Midwest, Ohio Valley, and Great Lakes currently in the midst of the 2nd wettest year since 1895 (125 years of records).

The States of Illinois, Kansas, and South Dakota are currently ranked number one. Iowa and Wisconsin are having their 4th wettest year on record.

In the graphic below you can see thate 2019 is on a pace that would make it the wettest all-time across the contiguous United States. Notice too how the month of May has been getting progressively wetter since 1900.

Below you can see the year to date totals over the central United States.

Here's a closer look at Iowa and my local area. The southern half of my region has seen 25-30 inches of precipitation the first 5 months of 2019. An entire "year" brings roughly 34-36".

May was especially wet in Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska with those states setting all-time records for the month. Iowa and Illinois had their 3rd wettest May.

Below are some May rainfall totals for the 4 major cities in my viewing area, 9.76" fell in the Quad Cities.

Dry weather would be welcome for a week or two and that's what the latest trends are indicating, something I've been talking about since last week. Here's what the GFS shows for total precipitation over the next 7 days.

The same model has this for 16 day totals. These numbers may look significant but typical amounts would be in the 2-3" range so these are below normal if indeed they verify.

The EURO Weeklies just in do show a return of the cool wet pattern we were in much of May. Here's the 46 day precipitation forecast ending July 22nd.

Here's the anomalies which are above normal for all of the central Midwest. Drier though to the north.

The return of a wet pattern would also support cool temperatures. Here's the 46 day temperature departures on the weeklies. Cool across the board through July 22nd.

As we approach the official start of summer the screaming message in the long range models is that summer looks cool and on the wet side here in the Midwest. Gnats, mosquitoes, and lots of mowing. Sounds like fun. At least you don't have to shovel it. Have a fantastic weekend and roll weather...TS