Also from an email...

<Most of Connecticut in Moderate Drought
The U.S.
Drought Monitor week for July 26 labels 98% of Connecticut as "Moderate
Drought" affecting 3,556,112 people, with the rest of the state "Abnormally Dry".
According
to Joan Allen of the UConn Plant Diagnostic Lab, “Many plants, even
mature trees, are showing signs of stress or injury which can include
wilt, dieback, leaf
curl, leaf or needle scorch (browning of edges), browning of turf,
dieback, etc. To make matters worse, drought conditions raise concern
about both well and municipal water supplies that have resulted in some
water use restrictions and recommendations. Many
mature woody plants will not show ill effects of a single season of
drought but successive seasons can result in impact. Drought stressed
plants are more susceptible to some pest and disease problems. Farms
with little to no irrigation for their fields are
losing crops this year. Even plants that thrive in warm summer weather
can be stressed by temperatures in the 90s including tomato and pepper
where symptoms can include slow-ripening fruit and aborted blossoms.
These temperatures can also reduce some pollinator
activity.” Let’s hope for rain!>

Thanks for the link! Shelby County, AL here. Level D2 - Severe Drought. Depressing. Averaged 2.3" per month April - July, but have had 3.1" since the first of August. Heading into what is traditionally our driest months (Aug. - Oct.).

It's very dry in my part of MI as well. But the lake is at near record highs, so I water to my heart's content as our sprinklers tap directly into it.

Haven't had measurable rain since the end of May. Historically, rain isn't likely to happen between now and late October. That would make close to five months of no rain. And we've had warmer than average days all summer. I've already taken out my lawn and put everything on drip. I'm not sure how much more I can conserve and still have a decently productive garden.

Gumby...I'm sure you will get 100+ inches of snow this winter to make up for the lack of rain this summer :)

The corn belt is looking to be in good shape so the grain harvest should be very good this year. More ethanol and high fructose corn syrup for everyone! I'm sure beef prices won't drop any even though feed grain prices are very low.

How would any snow help the garden today?

I don't remember getting much of anything for snow last year either. KC is likely to get more snow than CT anytime.

We are expecting a good deal of rain over the next few days, starting today. That should help out a bit.

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/northeast.php

We are in the same drought here... it is much better than last year. This time last year even the weeds were brown and dry. My lawn and all the weeds in it were very lush when I cut them this weekend. And there is several more days of rain in the forecast.

We had a very dry winter as well, with no spring snow melt at all, contributing to low water body levels. Which doesn't affect the garden at this point, except the water restrictions and prices. I think we still have restricted watering in effect.

Chris CT is getting your leftover rain right now.

Are you in NW CT? It's only just begun. Some pretty heavy rain in this storm. Hasn't even hit me down in SE NY yet.

It's dry. My grass is fried and has been for a while. Only reason it needed to be cut is because of the drought tolerant weeds growing in it. I haven't even got about two-thirds of my vegetable garden planted. It's hot, dry, and my soil is like concrete. It just ain't worth it this year.

I talked to an old farmer the other day and he said his corn is shriveling up from lack of rain. It's a damn shame. He grows some great sweet corn.

Rodney

Central CT where we get 100+ inches of snow.

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/weather/maps/

That's sad :-/ Sorry to hear that.

It's interesting to see people's different perspectives about the weather. Some people would call rain a nuisance, because they can't enjoy the outdoors. Others pray for it. Lack of rain can really ruin some people's way of life. Makes me think of the country song by Jason Aldean, called Amarillo Sky. I can't even imagine what it's like in California.

Last year was a major bust for snow in the Northeast. Most of the snow(which wasn't much) fell closer to the coast.

Looks like we transitioned into La Nina They are predicting above average snowfall in the Northeast. I'll believe these predictions when I see it.

While some admit there is a drought then say it doesn't affect the garden?

We haven't had more than 2' total snow in any of the last 5 years here in KC. Last winter we had much more rain than snow.

I always have to water some parts of the garden at various times of the growing season...usually about now when I am seeding and transplanting the fall garden is the highest use of irrigation mostly due to the heat and transpiration. Most things that are still going from the spring like tomatoes and peppers can get by on just occasional rain.

Raining in CT now but won't but a dent in this drought. Warning to those who need to run out and harvest tomatoes before they crack & split <grin>

Yeah I did that yesterday, alas the only way to prevent the Sungolds from splitting at this point in the season is to harvest them when they are not fully ripe.... but unlike other tomatoes they do not develop the same full ripeness off the vine.

Here in Central Texas, I'm delighted to say that the drought that was with us for the last three years (getting pretty scary in the last year), is GONE. Lakes are all full. On top of that, we had an unusually wet August.

<but unlike other tomatoes they do not develop the same full ripeness off the vine.>

Ya know I was gonna mention lack of flavor in another thread where it was mentioned to harvest before a rainstorm. I just didn't want to get into a debate about it.

That's only Sungolds I am talking about.... Other tomatoes I have grown ripen beautifully indoors if picked at first blush. And if there is a rainstorm, the water that causes the cracking also dilutes the flavor.