Drought conditions persist through October

Map showing drought conditions across the North Webster County Warning Area. (Data provided by the US Drought Monitor; US Department of Agriculture; University of Nebraska)

Kosciusko County has been in a moderate drought since late August.

The Warsaw Airport ASOS station recorded 0.80″ of rain for all of October. That’s 2.59″ below normal. Since July, 2.59″ of rain has fallen. Normally, over that four month course, we see about 15.03″.

Year-to-date, 15.24″ of rain has fallen at the airport. Compare that to the 10-month average of 33.61″ of rain. That’s 18.37″ of difference. Going back to 2012, a big drought year, 10-month precipitation was at 16.11″, full year was 18.08″.

Moderate drought conditions have expanded northwest into more of St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties. Areas of Wabash, Huntington and Allen Counties that saw dry conditions ease over the past couple of weeks have been put back under an “abnormally dry” status.