Midsouth still waiting for the rainy season to start

Rain fell throughout the Midsouth and into the Southeast over the weekend, but preliminary reports in the Midsouth indicate that amounts were less than most people wanted.

The Jackson, Miss., Clarion Ledger reported today that the state, as a whole, is behind 5 inches for year-to-date rainfall and that parts of the Delta are 10 inches below average. This March, the report said, may go down as the second driest since 1950. We've heard reports of about 8 tenths at one gauge near Starkville. Our gauge here, just to east of Jackson, accumulated 1.5 inches over the weekend.

We heard several reports from Louisiana, and amounts varied widely, from 3 tenths to 1.5 inches in some areas. Consultant Roger Carter reported Sunday that his area in east-central Louisiana got 6 tenths widely, with up to 1.5 inches in spots. It won't be enough, Carter said, for farmers to start or continue planting on heavy soils. It's dry enough now, he said, that wheat leaves are twisting on lighter and silty soils, and cracks up to 2 inches wide are apparent in clay fields.

The moisture situation seems to improve farther north. Some areas in eastern Arkansas picked up 2 to 4 inches of rain out of the system.

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