August is turning out to be as close to ‘normal’ as you can get. The month-to-date average temperature sits at 20.9 degrees Celsius, up from 20.7 degrees Celsius the previous week and a shade above the monthly normal of 20.2 degrees Celsius. Some cool days in the middle of August have been offset by a couple of heat waves and much warmer nights than is usual for this time of year.
Precipitation has picked up, with 27 mm of rain falling in the last week to bring the month’s total to 76 mm so far, which is about normal for this time of year.
The corn heat units (CHU) stayed the course and are slightly ahead of normal. There have now been 685 CHU in the first three and a half weeks in August, with the prorated normal being approximately 669 CHU. The normal for the month is 768 CHU, and, since May 12th, total CHU accumulation is now 2572 CHU, which is also slightly ahead of what would be expected for the date (2525 CHU).