“It is starting to affect some crops,” Bryan Cave, director of the Surry unit of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, said Monday.
The Mount Airy area has had only two days of measurable precipitation in the past two weeks, and that was a trace amount, according to a spokesman at F.G. Doggett Water Plant, the city’s official weather-monitoring station.
On June 22, one-tenth of an inch of rainfall was recorded at the plant, with another five-hundreds of an inch logged on June 28, punctuating a hot, dry month overall.
And the statistics are showing up in fields, especially with certain crops, Cave said.
“Pastures right now are starting to get a little bit dry,” he said Monday in citing one example of the weather’s impact on local agricultural operations.
“Probably the biggest thing going on right now that this is hurting is the corn crop, sweet corn especially, and then the field corn as well,” Cave added of the lack of moisture.
Mount Airy’s precipitation total for June was 38 percent less than normal, based on figures from the water plant, where weather records have been kept since 1924.
While the city averages 3.86 inches for the sixth month of the year, only 2.41 inches was measured last month, and a good chunk of that —1.05 inches — was logged on a single day, June 13.
No rainfall has been recorded so far in July, and the next-possible precipitation isn’t expected until the end of this week. Even then the odds are not in farmers’ favor, as well as residents who are witnessing their lawns turning brown due to the dry weather.
The nearest forecast that mentions rain is for Saturday and Saturday night when there is a 30-percent chance, according to the National Weather Service. Sunday will bring another 30-percent chance of rain.
For the year so far, Mount Airy is maintaining a precipitation surplus compared to the average, but that margin is shrinking, based on statistics from the water plant.
Precipitation is 1.79 inches above normal for the year, as of June 30, with a total of 24.40 inches received. That’s nearly 8 percent more than the normal output for the first six months of the year in Mount Airy, 22.61 inches.
Surry County is still not in a danger stage, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report, which was released last Tuesday. However, areas of North Carolina to the east and west were classified as abnormally dry at that time.
Heat A Factor
Coupled with the lack of rain has been excessive heat, which collectively has put a double-whammy on crops, particularly corn, Cave said.
“The dry conditions are kind of made worse by the high heat, which affects the pollination of the plant and ultimately the yield,” the extension director said of the corn situation.
June was hotter than usual locally, with temperatures in Mount Airy averaging 75 degrees, 2.3 degrees above normal. The month’s high reading of 94 occurred on three separate days: June 25, 27 and 29.
Similar to the rainfall outlook, no relief from the heat is anticipated anytime soon, either, with forecasts calling for temperatures in the 90s at least through Sunday.
Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.
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