This week, my station received 0.03 inches of rain, down from 0.22 inches last week.  Over the past 4 weeks, my station has received 1.99 inches of rain, but only 0.32 inches over the last 3 weeks.   Conditions are currently Moderately Dry.   All plants that aren’t being watered are extremely dry and wilted.  It’s been hard keep my own porch plants watered because they just dry out so quickly.   Unwatered lawns are completely brown and crispy.  Trees are wilted looking, especially the younger ones.   The soil is dry and cracked.   Inappropriate and completely unnecessary use of leaf blowers and lawn mowers only makes the dust worse.   Squirrels are very busy collecting nuts for the winter.  There are few birds, besides the hummingbirds that compete for our feeder. The cicadas have mostly died.  The hot and dry weather this week has lured people to the lakeshore where dangerous conditions caused one drowning and necessitated several rescues.   We really need some rain!