As I’m writing this, we’re in the midst of another hot and dry day in the grasp of an area of high pressure sitting to our south. While there is certainly some relief on the horizon, we’re stuck in this pattern for this weekend.
The pattern that we’ve been stuck in this week finally changes on Monday, when a slow-moving cold front with heavy rains will pass through the area.
A widespread 1-2″ of rain is likely across our area between Monday and Thursday of next week, with local amounts that could be higher than that.
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead, the EPS OpenData model seems to want to think that more ridging will build over the gulf as well as west of us in Texas and New Mexico. This ridging will suppress daily pop up storms from becoming too strong and widespread, as well as prevent cool and rainy storm systems to our northwest from making their way to the gulf coast. This probably means that more dry and hot conditions are in store for our area in the second half of June.
This is closely reflected in the cumulative precipitation totals after June 18th. While the above image does show the total rainfall for Hattiesburg will be significant from now until June 28th, most of that rain is predicted to fall between June 15th and 18th. This means very little new rain is forecasted for the time between June 18th and 28th.
What This Means for Your Gardens
Today, and for this weekend, watering will likely be necessary, as this entire week has been hot and very dry. This means that if you have potted plants that dry out fast that have also been outdoors this week, watering will probably be necessary soon. For raised and in-ground gardens, watering probably is not 100% necessary until the rain, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt, especially if the species of plants in your garden are known to be thirsty.
Another important thing to keep in mind is fertilizer and pesticides. You should not put fertilizer or pesticides in your garden until after the rain from Monday-Thursday, as the rain, which will likely be heavy at times, may wash it away causing your local streams and rivers to become polluted.
After the rain event next week, more watering is likely necessary in the following days. As I mentioned, things are looking very dry for the second half of June, and plants need a little bit of water frequently, not a lot all at once.
