Signs of Drought In The Midwest

Dad's Lawn

We recently returned from a trip to visit Cindy's dad in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Weather records have now confirmed that this past July was the hottest ever recorded, hotter even than July of the Dust Bowl year of 1936 according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

We knew before we got there that it was hot in Indiana, but we were stunned by how brown and dried up everything was.  Flying into Indianapolis looked like we were flying into a California city because it was so brown.

They had had no rain for weeks.  We had never seen Dad's lawn so brown in the summer, it looked like it does in winter when they've had no snow.

There were still trees down from the huge wind storm several weeks before, and the surviving trees looked stressed and some appeared to be dying.

Later, Signs of Green

The day we arrived they had a small amount of rain and got a little more a few days later.  By the time we left, the grass was showing signs of green, but it was still a long way from the normal lushness that used to require mowing twice a week.

That was the lawn; the corn was another story.

Coming Back a Little