The Farmer's Forecast: Waiting on Rain
By Nick Mikulas
La Nina has done a number on Louisiana drought conditions. In the last 30 days, we've seen around 20-50% of the climatological average amount of rain. A large part of the state is also running a significant precipitation deficit over the last year. This has put parts of the state into the extreme drought category, and it explains all the wildfires and burn bans.
Going forward, there's hope! It looks like the second week in March will be busy, with multiple rounds of rain looking likely, and some of that rain being heavy. I don't expect this to fix all of the issues overnight, but it looks like a good start. We definitely don't want to go into the warm season as dry as we are right now. A weakening La Nina should help things turn a bit more active. That's good because we need rain, and not good, because we are cruising toward the peak of severe weather season. Unfortunately, strong storms are a major delivery method for rain here in Louisiana. A wet March would go a long way to helping the rainfall deficit, but I know that's planting season for many. As a meteorologist, I can't imagine depending on the Louisiana weather for my livelihood! Much respect to all that do, and I hope and pray things work out well in the coming months!
