A Tale of Two Droughts

Weather historians will tell you that one of the worst droughts to ever hit Rockford (or the country. for that matter) took place back in 1988. If you compare this year to what we saw back then, the similarities are definitely there. While 1988 saw below average rain during the spring, the area was hit especially hard during the summer (June through August). In fact, 1988 is the second driest summer on record in Rockford, picking up just 4.81" of precipitation.

This year started off with near normal precipitation through April. Things really dried out after that. May and June went a combined 6.39" of rain below our average, with just a couple hundredths of an inch to speak for in July so far.

The forecast this week is calling for continued dry conditions. Our best rain chances will come over the weekend, but only small accumulations are expected. The National Weather Service is only calling for about a tenth of an inch of rain possible for the Stateline through Sunday morning. Looks like we'll have to wait a little longer to see any relief from these drought conditions.