Mother Nature Remains Uncooperative for Michigan Planting Progress

A big weather system is brewing for the Western and Central Corn Belt and MAT Chief Meteorologist Ryan Martin says it’ll make its way to Michigan in two waves over the weekend.

“We’ve got a wave of moisture out of a big system coming across the Great Lakes for your Friday overnight and Saturday period. That will give us probably a quarter to three quarters of an inch and coverage will be 100% of the state. We should dry slot from late Saturday afternoon right on through Sunday in central and southern Lower Michigan, but northern parts of Lower Michigan I think we see continued shower and thunderstorm activity through Saturday evening and the overnight.”

Martin sees wave two moving in Sunday night and Monday.

“So, I think Sunday dries down in many locations, particularly in Lower Michigan. But we see moisture coming back Monday morning, probably pre-dawn and going through Monday midday and afternoon. We’re going to see an additional tenth to half an inch over Lower Michigan. I think that bumps up a bit and gets near three quarters in the UP.”

The rest of Martin’s 10-day forecast doesn’t look promising for planting progress either. He describes it as “unsettled”.

“I think we are drying down a little bit for Tuesday the 30^th, but then we have a frontal boundary coming through giving moisture for Wednesday the 1^st. A tenth to half an inch there with coverage around 75% to 80% of the state. We’re chilly behind that for Thursday the 2^nd. Friday the 3^rd we start to warm up. Saturday the 4^th we see moisture coming back in the afternoon and lingering into Sunday the 5^th. That’s going to be another quarter to half an inch over most of the state.”

Martin provides more details in his full Planting Weather Forecast later Friday at MichiganAgToday.com, presented by Greenstone Farm Credit Services.