Recent rains, and the prospect for more precipitation in the coming days, is a godsend for crops.

"I got right at 2 inches" in Henderson from showers that began Friday, Henderson County Extension Agent Mike Smith said Monday.

"I'm hearing anywhere from 1.25 inches to 3 inches" that fell elsewhere in the county, he said.

Cardinal Farms south of town reported receiving 1.21 inches, while the National Weather Service at Evansville Regional Airport got 1.19 inches, according to the University of Kentucky Agricultural Weather Center.

"I've talked to several farmers, and they're pretty tickled with the rain they got," Smith said. While some hard downpours were observed, much of the rain fell at a rate that allowed it to soak into soils that had received little moisture in weeks.

"If we get more this week, that will be great," he said.

There's a good possibility of that. The weather service on Monday forecast a 40-percent chance of precipitation today and Wednesday, improving to a 60-percent chance on Thursday.

This rain, coming after weeks of drought, arrived just as corn is starting to tassel, a critical point in the development of the crop, Smith said.

A corn plant can absorb up to a half-inch of rainfall a day during the tasseling and silking stages. "It will go through what we got pretty quickly," he said.

And after weeks of unusually dry air, higher humidity will help plants pollinate. "We don't want 90 degrees and 40 percent humidity," he said. "We want 80 degrees and 70 percent humidity."

The rain also helps the soybean crop. Young plants received critical moisture needed for growth, and getting rain into topsoil will enable farmers to plant the remainder of their late-crop beans, Smith said.

The showers may also help farmers avoid the needed to replant much of their tobacco crop, he said.

"It was very beneficial in a lot of ways," Smith said.

The rain came as western Kentucky had slipped a severe hydrological drought, referring to groundwater levels, according to the UK ag weather center. Another 8.8 inches rain beyond normal rainfall is needed to restore long-term underground moisture levels, it said.

And more will be needed in the topsoil to keep crops growing. "We have a long way to go," Smith said.