2010 Final Rainfall

I am at the Michigan Fruit growers IPM class today.  No time to write about it now so check out the final rainfall stats for Illinois.

2010 rainfall played a big role in what we produce in Illinois as always.  There is not much we can do about it, but it is interesting to look at it.  The extremes in Illinois were wide with  Fulton and Henderson counties receiving 20 inches more than average and extreme southeastern Illinois receiving 20 inches less than average.  Does this tell us anything about 2011?  I am not sure, but I would say that southeastern Illinois is most vulnerable to a drought.  2011 is a La Nina year, so it is a possibility.  I am a bit surprised to find that even with generous amounts of rain the southeast, not much catching up was done.  The good news is that evapo-transpiration is slow, so any rain that falls this winter should be there for the spring.