A rainy start to August should help corn, bean crops in Western Pa.

Though Southwestern Pennsylvania was never in an official drought during the dry stretch of weather that ushered in summer, the lack of rain created anxiety surrounding crops such as corn and soybeans.

The Pittsburgh region was dryer than normal in June, having received just 3 inches of rain, more than an inch below normal. The first half of July started out with a temperature of 75.4 degrees, 2.5 degrees above average.

But recent rain has eased those concerns, according to the National Weather Service.

“We certainly aren’t anticipating having drought conditions, especially because we have had so much rain and we have more chances of rain in the next few days,” said Jenna Lake, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Moon.

“I would say there would be a concern if there was no rain in the forecast for the rest of the week. But we’re in a different pattern now than we were a few weeks ago. We were stuck in that dry period.”

The total amount of rainfall measured at the Pittsburgh International Airport in July was 3.69 inches, still 0.57 inches below normal, but enough to create optimism about this year’s corn and soybean crops.

“Eventually it will rain, and that’s what happened.” said Penn State Extension Agronomist Justin Brackenrich based in Butler. “It’s very timely when it comes to corn. A lot of our corn in the area is tasseling and silking and starting to really develop the ear. We need these rains now as much as ever to start developing that ear.

“That’s very important, it helps that pollination. If you think about when you buy an ear of sweet corn and the last couple inches of it aren’t filled out, that’s from poor pollination.”

Brackenrich said as long it as the area sees rain, soybean plants will produce bigger and better beans and heavier bushels.

“A good rain every week will carry us a long way,” he said. “But right now the pressure is off for a while.”

The first six to 10 days of August we’ll see above normal rainfall, according to Lake. But there could be another dry stretch in mid August, the weather service warns.

“We’re in an off and on wet stretch right now,” said Lake. “Whatever rain we didn’t get during that dry stretch we’re making up for right now.”