Weather

Ryan Martin 10-20-17

The short term forecast is unchanged this morning: Sunny, windy, dry weather holds for today and tomorrow, similar to what we have seen the past few days, and just like we have been talking up all week long. Our next front works in to the state later Sunday and goes through midday Monday…similar to our thoughts over the past couple of days. In general, 8 out of the next 10 days we have a very solid handle on and our forecast is locked in. However, the remaining two days hold the challenge. Those 2 days are Tuesday and Wednesday…the days immediately behind the front we expect to close out our weekend and start next week.

First, the front: as mentioned above, it is still on the way for Sunday. Arrival mostly later afternoon and then going through the overnight into Monday. The front looks slightly stronger this morning, but at this point we feel comfortable with the .25”-1” rain range we have talked about the past few days.… Continue reading

Ryan Martin 10-19-17

No change in this great weather for the balance of the week and weekend. Dry weather holds through Sunday with slowly climbing temps, strong southwest winds and excellent dry down conditions. Morning dew should be lighter over the next few mornings too, meaning we should be able to be in the field faster.

Our next front is still on the way for Monday. This still is the slower moving front we explained yesterday. Rain totals still look good at .25”-1” over nearly all of the state in our analysis this morning. Some models have swung back to a solution that has a second, stronger wave of moisture coming up as the front encounters the mountains off to the east. We think the moisture is overdone, and we are not convinced that the second wave approach is even right. It is a scenario we are looking closely at, but for now, we will sit with rains up to 1” and have everything done by midnight Monday night.… Continue reading

Ryan Martin 10-18-17

No complaints here at midweek. We have dry weather on the docket again today, and more is on the way. Warmer starting to assert itself too, thanks to strong south and southwest winds that started cranking up yesterday. Now, all of this should not come as any kind of surprise, since we have been talking about this set up going back into last week. Sun dominates today through the weekend, evaporation rates have maxed out and with these winds, we have excellent drying forecast through the weekend.

However, if you caught our final above statement, you should be clued in that we are making some changes to the forecast early next week, and they center around our next system’s arrival. That front looks to be moving sufficiently slower this morning to make changes to our forecast, and that may not be the most ideal set of circumstances for us.… Continue reading

Ryan Martin 10-17-17

We have no changes to the forecast this morning, and our pattern is on track for the rest of this week through Saturday. Sunshine and blue sky will dominate and we will see temps slowly but surely move upward. We will be near normal by midweek (tomorrow) and above normal to finish the week and weekend. Winds kick up late week, and we will see low humidity levels alongside excellent evaporation rates.

Our next front does try and move in late Sunday into Monday, but we feel it still has very little left in the tank as it arrives. As such, we are leaving our forecast basically alone, except we are dropping our coverage down to about 20% for Sunday night. We will stay warm and windy that day.

Next week still looks mostly dry. However, we have one time frame we are watching closely this morning. Some models late yesterday tried to bring a secondary surge of moisture up that old Sunday frontal boundary, bringing in some light rain for Monday evening and Tuesday.… Continue reading

Ryan Martin 10-16-17

The forecast looks pretty nice this morning as we move into an extended period of dry weather. Clouds may take their own sweet time breaking up here in the short term as cooler air is in place after following the frontal boundary in yesterday. However, as you look at the surface map, this is one of those rare times that you see no significant front anywhere across the central and western US, only high pressure on the way. So, clouds will break up and move out, and we will see warmer, drier air in here eventually. Today will just be a transition day, with no new precipitation.

The dry pattern continues tomorrow through Saturday. Temperatures will head back to normal by midweek and will be above normal to finish the week and for the weekend. Evaporation rates will be near maximum by midweek and with strong southwest breezes, we should see excellent dry down.… Continue reading

Ryan Martin 10-13-17

Even though the past couple of days have made it feel like we never will get good drying back, sunshine will take more control of the state today and that will begin to drive temperatures up some. The dry weather continues tomorrow and will pair with stronger winds out of the southwest. This will increase our evaporation rates and lead to good dry down statewide. Temps will be back to above normal levels. Winds for Saturday should average 12-25 miles an hour with stronger gusts.

The next chance of rain we see is still on track for Sunday. Some models are bringing the front about 6 hours sooner, others are holding it off till late afternoon. No matter when it arrives, Sunday will be wet, but the rains will be done by midnight at the latest. We are keeping rains totals at .25”-.75” over about 75% of the state, but will skew many areas to the lower end of the range.… Continue reading

Ryan Martin 10-12-17

Drier weather is here. It may not seem like it in parts of the state today, as lingering clouds and cooler temps don’t allow for the drier feel we have become used to over the past weeks and months. However, we have no new rain on the way, and we should see better chances of sunshien going forward, even by the end fo the dsay today. Full sun is on the way for tomorrwo and Saturday, with gusty winds emerging late tomorrow through Saturday and most of Sunday ahead of our next front. These winds, along with low humidity and near maximum evaporation rates, should allow for good drying tomorrow through most of the weekend.

Our next system is still on the way for late in the weekend. We see the cold front holding off until very late Sunday afternoon to arrive. Then rains continue through the evening and overnight, finally exiting the state to the east as the sun rises Monday morning.… Continue reading

Ryan Martin 10-11-17

Good rains are moving across the state today. We are keeping rain totals this morning at .25”-1” over about 70% of the state, and we are going to miss the really heavy action. Rains of 2” or more are likely in Michigan…but those storms look to pull northeast and move into Ontario, rather than heading this way. Still, this is a wet set up this morning, as we have been projecting, and it will put harvest action at a standstill.

We dry down tomorrow through Saturday. Yes, we still have a concern about lingering cloud cover tomorrow, but we do not think it really produces any new precipitation worth talking about. That being said, the clouds, if they hang around with any ferocity, will make for a damp feel, and very little dry down for the day. So, best case scenario, we can get these clouds to break up quickly tomorrow.… Continue reading

Ryan Martin 10-10-17

Not a lot of change in the overall forecast pattern this morning, but we do have a few tweaks to our forecast…mostly finessing the timing of our next two rain events. Today we should start with decent sun, but clouds will building this afternoon as our next system pushes across the western and central Corn Belt. Rains will actually begin in Indiana sooner today, and that means we need to be on the lookout sooner here too.

Rains will start this evening and overnight over the state and will fill in nicely through tomorrow as well. We are leaving rain totals alone this morning for the entire event. That means we are looking at rain totals of .25”-1” over about 70% of the state. We are pulling back on the coverage of this rain event because it looks to try and pull a little farther north and may leave out southern parts of the state from any significant rains.… Continue reading

The remains of Nate came into the state yesterday, which was earlier than expected in our discussion last Friday. However, Nate made landfall along the Gulf Coast about 12-15 hours sooner than anticipated too, so that makes sense he would get here sooner. In any case, it’s not a bad thing because we are seeing the remains leave quicker too. This morning we are dealing with the last of the moisture associated with Nate over eastern Ohio, and starting to dry out to the west. We should see drying continue through the entire day tomorrow. Sunshine overspreads the state today, and holds tomorrow. Clouds develop very late tomorrow evening and overnight.

Those clouds will be in ahead of our next weather system, on the way for Wednesday. A nice frontal complex is coming together today in the central plains and will exit to the east and northeast tonight. This will spread rain over the western and central Corn Belt tomorrow, and showers move into Indiana tomorrow evening and overnight.… Continue reading

Ryan Martin 10-6-17

A very interesting set up to finish the week here in Ohio (side note: if you hear a meteorologist describe the weather as “interesting” 9 times out of 10, it’s not an exceptionally good thing!). Rain coverage geographically was fairly close to expectations yesterday, but the top end of the rain totals range far exceeded our expectations. Still, we see less moisture coverage in the short term, today and tomorrow. But, we do still have a strong batch of rain and thunderstorm action coming to finish the weekend, and unfortunately this morning we have to also raise the specter of feeling the effects of a tropical system early next week. The long and short of it all is that we have “plenty” of rain coming…much more than we need as we find ourselves in harvest season. Let’s break it down for you this morning.

Today we have moisture limited to the far northern part of the state.… Continue reading

We have a little bit of a damp pattern emerging today and tomorrow over the state, but may salvage a good part of the weekend if we are lucky. Today, we see scattered showers developing along a slowly moving, almost stagnant frontal boundary draped across the region. The action remains rather light, bringing a few hundredths to perhaps .3” over about 60% of the state. Tomorrow the wet forecast stays in place over northern Ohio, but rain retreats out of the south. Rains tomorrow will be most frequent north of US 30, where we can see .25”-.5” rains with coverage at 70% areas north of US 30, but only a few spits and sprinkles south of there. South of I-70 we have nothing for tomorrow. Saturday and Sunday are interesting. We see some rains developing to our west over IN and IL, but nothing of any consequence can get in here.… Continue reading

Ohio Ag Net is bringing the agricultural community a fresh, Buckeye-state focused perspective on the most important factor in farming — weather.

Ohio Ag Net Chief Meteorologist Ryan Martin will be reporting on Ohio weather relative to agriculture each weekday online and on the radio. Reports can be heard on the Morning Farm Show, along with a thorough written forecast found online at ocj.com and in the Ohio Ag Net’s daily e-newsletter, Digital Dale.

About Ryan Martin

Martin graduated from Purdue University in 1996 with a B.S. Degree in Applied Agricultural Meteorology. However, Ryan has been involved in operational forecasting and broadcasting since 1992, and with agriculture all his life, having been born and raised in North Central Indiana on a small diversified livestock farm.

His family’s main enterprise was sheep and hay production.

“It seemed like we could never get a hay cutting in the barn without some kind of rain popping up over the top of us, and I wanted to try and do something about that…so I became a meteorologist,” he said.… Continue reading