By Steve Monday

Rowan County Weather

This summer has not been very kind to the farmers here in Rowan County. The lack of rain has had a devastating effect on their crops.

If you look around, it’s easy to see we are getting into some early stages of drought with no relief in sight.

A comparison by the National Weather Service shows the 10 driest summers on record since 1893. This year has the distinction of being the driest.

We have had only 1.14 inches of rainfall. This is almost 3 inches below the summer of 1921, when for the entire summer Rowan County had only 4.02 inches of rainfall around the county.

The 10-day outlook shows that things are probably going to get worse before they get better. We are forecast to get little in the way of accumulative rainfall through July 15.

Last Thursday, the North Carolina Climate Office had Rowan County listed in the first stage of drought with abnormally dry conditions around the county.

Not only are we experiencing a dry summer, but we are having record heat. This is currently the sixth-warmest summer on record for Rowan County.

The scary thing is we are not far from the top spot on the list. Less than one degree separates this summer from the summer of 1943, the hottest on record for Rowan County.

We did have some cooler temperatures for the first half of this week, which offered a bit of relief. However, the seven to 14-day outlook shows that the heat is going to make a comeback.

We have had 18 days this summer with highs of 90 degrees or higher around the county.

The good news is that rain will come and the heat will eventually move out. We just have to be patient.

Continue to follow the Salisbury Post and Rowan County Weather for the latest updates as we try to stay cool this summer.