Even after a weekend of rain, 2016 is shaping up as a notably dry year, according to Jeff Zoltowski, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gaylord.

“We’ve had a string of drier than normal months,” he says, going all the way back to April. March was the last month with above-normal rainfall. April, May, and June were each down by more than an inch from the average, while July was down by nearly an inch. Even with the recent rain, August is still below average.

In fact, the official U.S. Drought Monitor Map shows the northern portion of the lower peninsula in the "Abnormally Dry" category.

The impact on crops has been noticeable. Casey Noonan of Empire, who farms several parcels of land with his father and brother, says he’s only gotten one cutting of hay, where he’d normally expect two or three. “We lost two-thirds of our corn crop,” he says, the third consecutive year the corn crop has been deleteriously affected by weather.

“I talk to my dad and some of the other older farmers, and they say you always have a dry spell in the summer," he says. "But this year has been dry all spring and summer.”

Noonan’s not alone in that assessment. Nikki Rothwell of the local MSU Extension Office says farmers across the region are lamenting the lack of rainfall. While cherries were largely spared from the impact of the dry weather due to their relatively early harvest, pears and apples are smaller than normal.

But there's still hope, as long as the weather remains warm. “I don’t see us harvesting 'til the end of September at the earliest, so we still have five or six weeks. Rain and heat will help from a sizing standpoint,” says Travis Bratschi, who grows apples in the Williamsburg area.

On the other hand, what’s bad for corn and hay has actually been good for grapes, says Lee Lutes, general manager and head of winemaking operations at Black Star Farms. “Most vineyards that are four or five years old or older have a deep enough root system that the drought won’t affect them significantly. Apple or cherry trees tend to be shallow-rooted, 18 to 24 inches deep. The (grape) vines are extremely deep-rooted – by age 10 or 15 they’ll be ten or 15 feet deep. With that, they are able to tap into water further down,” says Lutes.

The warm, dry weather has definitely helped the area’s vineyards in terms of the quality of the grapes. Lutes is hopeful that trend will continue. “We have a chance to have a very good to outstanding year. If we have a frost in mid-September, that shuts everything down, but with a decent September and October, it will be at least very good. If this weather continues through at least mid-September, you’ll see a lot of winemakers dancing a jig.”

Of course, the area is still surrounded by the largest amount of fresh water in the world. The Weather Service's Zoltowski says water levels in the Great Lakes and inland lakes have largely been unaffected by the dry weather, which is good news considering most of the state’s counties rely on the Great Lakes for industry, tourism and irrigation.

According to data from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, as of 2014 (the data from 2015 is still being processed) Grand Traverse's usage of Great Lakes water is 100 percent for public water, while Leelanau County's usage is 100 percent for irrigation. Benzie and Kalkaska use no Great Lakes water, while Manistee's usage is 100 percent for industrial and manufacturing use.

And if you think it’s been not just drier but warmer, you’re right – no matter where you’re located. A "State of the Climate" report recently issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that July 2016 was Earth's warmest month in records dating to 1880.