Long, Dry Summer

By Rick Di Maio

This summer’s drought — one of the worst in a century — was a challenge to the green lawn crowd. But deep-rooted prairie plants (and folks with native gardens) fared just fine.

As I walked my dog each morning this past summer, I couldn’t help but count how many sprinklers and hoses were going full-bore trying to keep the trees, green parkways, and lush, flowering bushes on my street alive. Each single-family house and apartment building had its own strategic plan. My favorites were the sprinklers that got more of sidewalks, streets, parked cars, and passers-by than the slightly brownish lawn, halfway to retirement. In the eastern Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago where I live, there seemed to be an early sense of pride that my garden-savvy street was going to beat the oncoming drought.

By the end of July 2005, the drought in northeastern Illinois was one of the worst in 125 years (though by mid-August we’d gotten more rain, dropping it to the less-impressive “worst in 100 years”). Rainfall in some areas totaled less than one inch from June 1st to July 15th. Worse, evaporation rates became incredibly high — reclaiming up to .30 inches of water a day — as temperatures at O’Hare Airport topped 90 degrees nearly 20 times. Compare this to last summer, which produced only 3 days of 90-degree high temperatures, frequent rains, and jacket weather in early August.

So how did we get into this “Drought of 2005?” Part of it is due to a dry March, April, and May, which saw less than 60 percent of the expected rainfall. As we enter the summer months, when widespread precipitation is not as likely, a previous dry pattern often becomes a widespread drought.

The other part, believe it or not, is plain bad luck. During the spring months, rainy weather systems over Iowa and Minnesota just ran out of gas as they crossed the Mississippi River. Others either veered north into Wisconsin or south toward Kansas. The warmer waters of the Atlantic Ocean, which were 3 to 4 degrees above average, and the early onset of the hurricane season have also kept weather systems from moving through the Midwest at more regular intervals.

While my neighbors may have been racing to keep their bluegrass, hostas, and caladiums alive, native plants were, for the most part, riding out the drought in style. Conservationists across the region noticed that things were different: plants were conserving water by growing only half as tall as normal. Plants that usually bloom for weeks only bloomed for a few days, and many bloomed earlier than usual. Streams ran low, and evaporating ponds made life hard for amphibians. But the consensus among those in the field is that native ecosystems, though stressed, have remained healthy and green. And many native gardeners are reportedly feeling smug about their surviving plants and low water bills.

Remember that it took almost three months to get into this drought, and it will probably take that long to get out of it. As of August 15th, rainfall deficits from June 1st were near six inches. With the normally dry month of September upon us, I would expect our region to remain in drought at least through late November.

Here is hoping for a snowy winter! I am already waxing my cross-country skis.

Di Maio is Chief Meteorologist for Fox News Chicago.