After a hot and dry weekend and start to the week, rains are returning to the region and are trying to fix dry conditions that had been emerging in some areas, but are adding unwanted moisture to other areas that have seen too much in recent weeks. We see more wet days than dry ones the rest of this week and weekend, before trying to dry the pattern out ever so slightly next week.

Rain should continue through the rest of Wednesday, and early Thursday. We may get a 12-18 hour break Thursday, and then heavy thunderstorms are back overnight Thursday night, with rains Friday, Saturday and early Sunday. Following that pulse of action, we expect rains to return again Sunday night and go through Monday. If we step back and add it all up, going back to what happened yesterday, mostly over northern Indiana, northern Illinois, and southern lower Michigan, rains combined for the seven-day period that ends next Monday night will be from 1-3.5 inches combined and we expect nearly 100 percent coverage over the entire region. You may see a few smaller totals in Ohio, but mostly eastern Ohio. The map below shows rain totals through next Monday evening.

Finally, we get back to back dry days next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Once we get into the second half of next week, models start to get more inconsistent. However, as we analyze the atmospheric set up, we think there is a chance of some scattered, light shower action over the state from June 28-29, but coverage will only be about 50 percent of the state. The next good chance at a strong front sweeping through the eastern Corn Belt will be around July 3, with rain totals mostly of a half an inch or less.

So, this week will be “catch up week” on moisture, after the warm, dry pattern that hit most of the Corn Belt the end of last week and this past weekend. Temperatures will not be as warm. After the 90s of the weekend, this week settles back dramatically, as the rain falls, and the clouds are in the rest of the week. This will likely keep temps back closer to normal. That temp profile holds into next week as well. The end of the 10-day forecast window and the extended period will see warming back in the region, as south winds dominate, and the drier atmospheric profile allows for quicker heating of the atmosphere. However, after a wet seven to eight day period, we should expect high humidities to be the normal as the calendar flips from June to July.

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.