Wet weather has the region's crop harvest at a standstill, with little relief in sight.

La Crosse already has had more than 4 inches of rain this month - more than twice the usual October rainfall - and up to a half-inch more is expected to fall by this morning.

As of Friday morning, some parts of Jackson and Trempealeau counties had received nearly 3 inches of rain since Wednesday.

With rain chances and cooler temperatures expected through next week, it will be awhile before farmers can resume the fall harvest, said Bob Dummer, co-owner of Dummer's Grain Service near Holmen. About 80 percent of the area's soybean crop remained in the field Friday, he said.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, only 14 percent of the state's soybeans had been harvested as of last week, compared with a five-year average of 60 percent.

"It's going to take some good weather to get them out," Dummer said.

Not only are the fields wet, but the beans will have absorbed a lot of the rain. Without warm and sunny weather, farmers may have to harvest beans with a higher moisture content and mechanically dry them before storage, adding cost, Dummer said.

Wet weather also has delayed the corn harvest for grain, he said, with the crop still needing to mature.

"There are some serious concerns out there" about completing the harvest before winter, Dummer said.

Area rivers and streams also are on the rise, with the Kickapoo River expected to reach near flood stage in Gays Mills and Steuben over the weekend.

After one of the driest Septembers on record, the first half of October has had only two dry days.

It also is shaping up to be among the coldest Octobers on record. In the first 22 days, average temperatures have been 10 to 20 degrees below normal. While September's average temperature was 1.8 degrees above normal, October's has so far been 8.5 degrees below.

Blame it on the jet stream, the National Weather Service said.

"It's a little unusual," said meteorologist Todd Shea. "We've just been in a very active pattern this month."

With the jet stream to the south, cold air is pushing down while surges of warm, moist air continue to push north, Shea said. "They're pretty wound-up storms - more typical of winter."

Today looks to be the only clear day in sight, with a chance of rain returning Sunday and continuing through the week.