Published: June 24, 2009 07:35 am      

Summer forecast shows nothing out of ordinary

April had above-normal rainfall

Madison County can expect normal temperatures and rainfall for the next three months, according to Dr. Stuart Foster of the Kentucky Climate Center.

“There are no signals that we should expect anything but typical weather for the next three months,” said Foster, who directs the center based at Western Kentucky University.

July, with an average maximum temperature of 86.3 degrees, is usually the warmest month of the year in Madison County.

The average high temperature for August is 85, while the average high for September is 78.8.

The soil in central Kentucky is still rather moist, thanks to a wet spring and average rainfall in June, and that has helped moderate temperatures.

“As moisture in the soil evaporates, it has a cooling effect on the atmosphere,” Foster said. “It’s similar to the cool you feel when you step out of a swimming pool and catch a breeze.”

According to data from the National Weather Service, June is usually the wettest month of the year in Madison County with an average of 4.75 inches of rain. With eight days left in the month, 4.11 had been recorded.

Rainfall in March, 2.11 inches, was 2.2 inches below normal, but the deficit was made up in April.

April has been the wettest month of 2009 with 5.33 inches of rain, 1.63 inches above normal. May’s rainfall, 3.94 inches, was 0.55 inches below normal.

The wet spring has slowed work on the renovation and expansion of Madison Southern High School, forcing the school board to delay the opening of school in August by eight days.

The first day of classes for students is now scheduled for Aug. 24.

The jet stream, a high-speed, high-altitude air current, ran to the south of Kentucky during the spring, Foster said, contributing to the wet weather.

“We got several storms coming from the northwest through Indiana this spring, which is a bit unusual,” he said.

The jet stream has moved to the north, where is lightly to stay during the summer, Foster said.

While July is typically the hottest month, it also is relatively wet. May and July, both with average rainfall of 4.49 inches, are the wettest months, second only to June.

After July, however, things normally begin to dry out. Average rainfall in August is 3.22 inches. September usually is the year’s driest month with only an average 2.4 inches of rain.

The wet spring has boosted hay production, according to Madison County Extension Agent Brandon Sears.

“Some of our farmers have already harvested as much hay this year as they did all of last year,” he said.

The dampness has hurt hay quality some.

“If your hay gets wet after its cut, it doesn’t dry as well as you’d like,” Sears said.

The wet spring delayed tobacco setting by about two weeks.

“If we have a normal summer, however, we should still have a good tobacco harvest,” Sears said.

The Bluegrass region, along with eastern Kentucky, is enjoying a much milder late spring and early summer than western Kentucky, Foster said.

“A high pressure ridge over the Midwest has kept temperatures in the 90s in the western part of the state,” Foster said, “and the heat index has been rising into triple digits recently.”

The thermometer reached 94 on Wednesday in Paducah.

As most weather forecasters do, Foster is quick to qualify his predictions.

“You know how often a five- or seven-day forecast can vary,” he said, “and longer-term forecasts are even more variable.”

The Kentucky Climate Center is more oriented toward data collection, rather than forecasts, Foster said.

The center has begun construction of a weather data collection station at Eastern Kentucky University’s Meadowbrook Farm near Waco.

“When that station goes online, you will be able to retrieve weather data over the Internet within a few minutes,” Foster said.

Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 624-6622.