LAURINBURG — Be careful what you wish for.
Many have been wishing for warmer weather to dry up the standing water still found in the county, but there is a flip side to the advantages.
According to the National Weather Service in Raleigh, the remainder of the week will continue to see temperatures in the upper 90s with no rain to help cool down the forecast.
Jonathan Blaes, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Raleigh, the temperatures for this time of year tend to be in the mid-80s — ranging around 85 to 86 degrees — but the record high for the area for this time of year is 102 degrees.
“It’s unusual to be having temperatures this high,” Blaes said. “And we’ll continue to be above normal for the next few days until the temperatures cool down to the low 90s Friday and Saturday.”
Wednesday and Thursday have forecasts of 98 degrees, while Friday the temperatures cool down to 93 degrees with mostly sunny skies. The heat can also begin to cause health problems when it gets into the high temperatures with no sign of going down for several days.
“The heat has been going for days and it tends to hurt the body with those more susceptible to it, such as the elderly or young ones, causing them to succumb to heat stress, heat exhaustion or heat stroke,” Blaes said. “Heat can be very dangerous, though it doesn’t get as much attention as other disasters like tornadoes.”
Locally, many farmers are likely wishing for rain since the warm weather has cleared up the pockets of standing water, but now poses a threat to the crop.
“We were really hoping things would dry up this spring, but now things have dried up too much and it’s thrown us for a loop,” said Randy Wood, Scotland County Cooperative Extension director. “The corn crop is currently in danger and we’re liable to lose the entire crop if we don’t get any rain soon.”
Wood added that soybeans could also be at risk, though many farmers are waiting for it to rain before planting the crop, as it can be planted as late as the end of June. And even though cotton and peanuts can survive a drought, they two are also at a risk.
“The problem is soybeans are a break-even crop right now even if they do especially well,” Wood said. “So farmers are relying heavily on peanuts, cotton and corn crops that they desperately need to profit off of after last year’s hurricane. But the clock is ticking.”
Despite the temperature dropping slightly the forecast is not calling for any rain to be hitting the area in the next few days to help the crops.
“There is no rain in the forecast for the next few days except for maybe a rouge thunderstorm,” Blaes said. “Getting into Friday and Saturday there could be some rain but the chances are only 20 to 30 percent, which are not good odds — but it will be slightly cooler.”
After the past year with Hurricane Florence hitting the area and destroying crops due to standing water, along with threatening to cut back planting season with the still-standing water, farmers are not having any luck with the weather.
“When we get this kind of weather it tends to stay like this for several weeks, but that’s not what we need right now,” Wood said. “The crops can handle the temperatures but they need moisture to go along with it.”
Reach Katelin Gandee at 910-506-3171 or at [email protected]
