More than a third of Ohio is now in a “moderate drought,” including all Northeast Ohio counties according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The hot, dry weather that started in June around Northeast Ohio has taken a toll on crops and landscaping. Jacqueline Kowalski is with the Ohio State University extension office in Summit County.
“Lawns went dormant really early this year, trees that were newly planted, the one that were not attacked by the cicadas are also looking fairly stressed out. A number of them are showing signs of heat scorch. And we’re also having some insect problems that tend to occur when the weather’s really hot and dry and plants are stressed.”
Most of the moderate drought conditions are in the northern half of the state. The National Weather Service office in Cleveland says while almost all of the state is drier than normal, southern Ohio has receive much more rain than the northern half. And it reports that the dry conditions will probably last through August.
