The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map, released this past Thursday, shows Abornally Dry conditions creeping back into the state of Illinois. A small part of east-central Illinois is now in Moderate Drought conditions. Most of Wayne County and areas to the north and east are included in the Abnormally Dry conditions. The latest weather forecast from the National Weather Service in Paduach, KY is calling for continued hot and humid conditons through the middle of next week, with some rain chances on Sunday, and again around the middle of next week, when a cold front is expected to move through and knock the heat and humidity down a bit for a few days, with high temperatures dropping into the upper 80s and lows back down into the middle 60s. The extended forecasts, which run through July 4th, are facoring above-normal temperatures with near normal precipitation. The 30-day forecast for the month of July is favoring above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation.
With the recent dry conditions, area rivers are running on the low side. Here’s the latest stages as of this morning: the Little Wabash River east of Fairfield is at 4.86 feet. Flood stage is 17 feet. The reading at Clay City is 4.39 feet. Flood stage is 18 feet. At Carmi the stage is 2.79 feet. Flood stage is 27 feet. The Skillet Fork at Wayne City is at 5.01 feet. Flood stage is 15 feet, and the Wabash River at Mt. Carmel stands at 4.43 feet. Flood stage is 19 feet. Bonpas Creek at Browns reads 1.41 feet.