Western NY crops thirst for a big gulp of rain
Local farms have gone from soaked to scorched in just two months, potentially causing losses from both too much and too little rain in the same crazy growing season.
Record rainfall in April made many fields too soggy to work well into May, delaying planting by two or more weeks. In July, precipitation is running about 80 percent below normal in what is typically a low-rainfall month anyway.
Just over one-third of an inch has fallen here so far this month and nearly all of that came down on a single day, according to the National Weather Service.
Climate change? Depends whether you ask the anti-science crowd in the House majority, or farmers looking at a catastrophic harvesting season.
Cumulative rainfall