Northwest Iowa — 2018 was a very wet year here in northwest Iowa, to say the least. From flooding caused by torrential rains in June and September, several towns around northwest Iowa reported yearly precipitation totals that were well above normal.
The northwest Iowa community that saw the most precipitation in 2018 was Sibley. The Osceola County seat had 53.80-inches of moisture fall in 2018. In a normal year, they would expect to see 28.82-inches. That means Sibley received 24.97-inches, or 86.6%, more than they would in a normal year.
Rock Valley comes in next, receiving 51.29-inches of precipitation during 2018. Normal precipitation for Rock Valley is 28.35-inches, which means they received 22.94-inches, or 80.9% more precipitation than normal in 2018.
In Sheldon, 50.46-inches of precipitation was recorded for 2018, which puts Sheldon’s precipitation total 82.6% above the normal total, which is 27.63-inches.
Primghar received a total of 48.11-inches during 2018, a 17.65-inch, or 57.94% increase over the normal yearly total of 30.46-inches.
In Spencer, 45.59-inches of moisture fell in 2018, 16.08-inches above their normal yearly precipitation of 29.15. That makes Spencer’s yearly total 55.16-inches above normal.
Rock Rapids saw 45.12-inches of precipitation in 2018. That figure is an increase of 57.8%, or 16.53-inches more than the normal yearly precipitation of 28.59.
2019 is beginning with less precipitation than at this time in a normal year, with little if any precipitation in the forecast for the foreseeable future. Time will tell if that trend will continue further into 2019.
