Drier weather has returned to the region for the next few days. After rain to start the week on May 20, it’s been a bit of a slow move to dryness to this point, especially in Ohio, where rain wanted to linger longer.

But still, we should see sunshine emerge in all parts of the region at midweek, and the dry weather holds through May 24-25, as well.

Our next minor front brings scattered showers back to the Eastern Corn Belt on the night of May 25 and then they linger through May 26-27 as we kick off the holiday weekend. Rain totals do not look all that impressive, with quarter-inch to a half-inch or less with coverage at 60 percent.

Daily coverage will be under 40 percent for both May 26-27, but there is enough moisture around that we need to watch it. Memorial Day itself looks drier. There will be plenty of holes in the coverage of this moisture, and at this point, they do not seem to have any significant rhyme or reason to them.

The rest of next week shows little to no organized action. Strong high pressure settles in over the Great Lakes. With its origin, temps likely stay near normal, and there is not a lot of oppressive heat in for the region.

Late in the week and weekend, we can see some scattered showers around for June 2 into June 3, but much like the system before it, action will be limited to half an inch or less. Coverage may be a little bit better, around 70 percent.

The map shows cumulative precipitation for the next week through May 30. Not all that spectacular.

Moving farther out, for the rest of the upcoming 10-day window, models are in significant disagreement, with the American model trying to keep showers and thunderstorms around through midweek the week of June 4, and the European model staying drier.

We prefer the drier solution, as it fits the emerging pattern here that has a system followed by a good 4-5 days. If the pattern moistens up, we may have to rethink. But for now, we look for only a minor front bringing scattered showers around June 6 into June 7.

Temperatures for the next two weeks will be nearly normal with a push above normal ahead of each expected front. Warmth at this point does not look too significant to warrant concern about strong to severe thunderstorms in the period.

So, generally speaking, we still have good moisture potential as we get ready to flip the calendar into June, but we also are seeing dry windows averaging 4-5 days in between our rain chances.

This should allow for the final pushes of field work to reach completion.

Ryan Martin is Chief Meteorologist for Hoosier Ag Today, a licensed Commodity Trader and the Farmer Origination Specialist for Louis Dreyfus Company’s Claypool Indiana Soybean Crush Plant. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World.