Harvest Weather Forecast: Helene Brings Rain to Southern Michigan through Monday

We have a very interesting weekend unfolding over MI in the Seed Genetics Direct Harvest Weather Forecast as the remains of Helene will bring some moisture to southern lower MI, but central and northern locations remain precipitation free. The low will spend Saturday and Sunday wobbling between Evansville, IN, Paducah, KY and Cape Girardeau, MO, sending band of clouds and moisture north through IN, OH and into lower MI. From I-96 south we need to watch for on and off scattered showers all the way through Monday. Our rain totals are not spectacular, and should generally be half an inch or less, but still wont see significant drying.

Tuesday, we see a fast moving disturbance come through that can trigger showers for about 60% of the entire state of MI, from .1” to .6”. This will be the little “kick” that sends the remains of the tropical system eastward. Behind that we will be dry for Wednesday and Thursday, with sunshine, low humidity and good drying. Overnight Thursday night through Friday we can see a few scattered showers again over the southern half of Lower MI. Rain totals from a few hundredths to a few tenths with coverage at 60%. Then we should be dry from Friday afternoon through the weekend into early next week. The map below shows precipitation totals for the entire 10 day forecast window over MI.

A frontal system comes through to start the following week, likely midday and afternoon on Monday the 7^th. This time, we see the best moisture in central and northern MI, while southern lower MI sees more spotty action. Still, the system is likely worth .1”-.75” with 80% coverage.

Extended Period:

Colder air will try to dive in behind that early week system for the region. While not super cold, it will be much closer to normal than where we spent most of September. However, we are also looking at a dry finish to the week and start to the following weekend, meaning we have another opportunity for harvest to pick right back up over most of the state.

Weeks 3 & 4:

Mostly dry and still rather warm for most of weeks three and four. We see slightly better precipitation potential in week four but are not overwhelmed with moisture. Temps are not as warm relative to normal as weeks prior, but still above normal in general right on into late October.