Checking out the forecast, a lucky few will see a brief shower today.  The low rain chance continues through Sunday. Rain showers will be more widespread on Monday morning, with rain chances continuing through Tuesday, where we could even have a couple of thunderstorms roll through. 

Tuesday looks to be the best chance for rain over the next 10 days.

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Fall officially begins just after 2 p.m. on Monday, and that is going to act as a switch to turn fall weather back on. I have highs in the mid-80s today through Sunday.  

Monday highs will be near 80 degrees with temperatures in the 70s for the rest of the 7-day. This weekend won't see much variation in our weather with highs in the mid-80s each day.  Morning lows dipping to the 50s and noon temperatures probably just shy of 80 degrees. 

New drought maps for the week came out on Thursday morning. The headline is that parts of our area are now under what they call "extreme" drought conditions. 

On a 0-5 scale (with 0 being no drought conditions whatsoever), "extreme" drought conditions are a level 4. The Drought Monitor updates their weekly maps on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. The data cut-off is at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, though.  

So, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the current map is based on, our area recorded no rain whatsoever. You had to expect that things would be worsening, and they did.  Almost all of our area is now under at least a level 1 "abnormally dry" rating. Slightly over half of our area is listed as under moderate drought conditions or worse.  Around 20 percent of the area is under a level 3 "severe" drought at this time, according to the Drought Monitor.

So what does it mean to see an area under "extreme" drought conditions?  In terms of real-world conditions, the biggest impact is felt on area farms.  

Dairy farmers struggle to make a profit due to the high cost of feeding their milking cows. Other crop losses occur, including Christmas tree farms.  For those fishing, water flows are extremely low to non-existent on area waterways. It's not bad news for everyone, though, with bulk water distributors and well drillers seeing increased business.

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