May continues to be cool but is gradually warming up at a pace that will accelerate in the coming days with some temperatures in the high 20s. The average temperature for the month to date was 10.1 degrees Celsius, up from 8.9 C, and a bit closer to the normal of 14.5 C.
The soil is warming up at the same slow rate as the air above, reaching 15 C (60 Fahrenheit) in the afternoon and then cooling to 13 C (53 F) at night. A few more degrees are needed for the corn to start to germinate across the fields.
18 millimetres of rain fell in the previous week, bringing the month to date total to 38 mm since the beginning of the month, which is about normal, even if it seems – with the tile drainage still running – that it has rained much more.
The field preparations and planting have been progressing slowly, with not much out of the ground but the fields of winter wheat. Even the asparagus is reluctant to get its shoots up out of the ground in a substantive way.