Omaha, Nebraska — While the latest drought monitor map for northwest Iowa shows almost no change since the previous week’s map, Iowa State climatologist Justin Glisan says the new drought maps released late last week show drought conditions widening and getting more severe, especially across Iowa’s northern half.
The new climate outlook was issued for the region on Thursday and Glisan says it holds no obvious signs for what’s to come in the long term.
Fall will arrive in about a month, September 22nd, and Glisan says it’s a toss-up as to what the season ahead may hold.
The map shows at least parts of 22 Iowa counties are now in extreme drought, which covers more than ten percent of the state, up from around seven percent last week. Fifty-five percent of the state is now in some level of drought, while almost 79-percent of Iowa ranges from abnormally dry to extreme drought. Only a few counties in southwest Iowa and most of the southern two tiers of counties are untouched by the dry weather.
