🌱 US Weather Warriors GrowCast — 2026-05-26
Showers and thunderstorms park over Delmarva today, keeping fields wet and tender transplanting on hold.
Today's Weather Snapshot: Highs in the upper 70s to low 80s inland, low-to-mid 70s at the coast; lows in the 60s. Unsettled with rounds of rain and possible thunderstorms; WPC leans toward locally heavy rainfall. Winds light to moderate, around 5-13 mph. Dewpoints muggy — relative humidity sat near 98-100% at most mesonet stations overnight.
Soil & Recent Rainfall: 2-inch soil temps averaged 66.8°F across six DEOS stations (range 63.8-72.2°F). 24-hour rainfall ran light so far, up to 0.07" — but more is on the way today. Topsoils are saturated at the surface with humidity near 100% and rain ongoing.
Best Outdoor Work Window: Skip today for anything ground-disturbing. The cleaner window looks like later this week once the rain trend breaks and topsoils drain.
Planting & Transplanting: Planting window is Delay — hold tender transplants (tomato, pepper, squash) despite soil temps being in the right zone (66.8°F avg, above the 60-65°F threshold). Setting them into saturated, storm-battered ground invites stem rot and transplant shock. Wait for a drier 48-hour stretch.
Watering & Irrigation: Hold off on irrigation. With rain falling, PoPs at 64-78%, and topsoils already wet, anything you add is wasted — reassess midweek.
For Gardeners: Use the indoor day to harden off remaining warm-season starts under cover, sharpen tools, and scout established beds for slug and early blight pressure that thrives in this humidity. If you have established cool-season crops (lettuce, spinach, peas), harvest before heavy rain bruises leaves.
For Farmers & Growers: Field workability is Poor — stay off wet ground to avoid compaction and ruts. Spray windows are closed with thunderstorm risk Elevated and wash-off likely; defer foliar applications. Hay cutting is a non-starter through this rain cycle.
Looking Ahead (6-10 day signal): CPC 6-10 and 8-14 day both lean above-normal temps and below-normal precip, with no drought currently across DE/MD/VA — a drying pattern is setting up.
Bottom Line: Wet, stormy day — stand down on planting and fieldwork, and line up jobs for the drier stretch ahead.
— US Weather Warriors #DelmarvaWeather #GardenWeather #FarmWeather