Iowa — Recent rainstorms are helping to improve Iowa’s soil conditions, though only about a third of the state is completely drought-free. The new map from the US Drought Monitor shows the amount of the state in abnormally dry or drought conditions has fallen in the past week from around 80 to just under 70 percent. State climatologist Justin Glisan says southwest Iowa remains a “problem child” with above-average temperatures and below-average rainfall.
While spring officially ended today (Friday), Glisan says meteorological summer started June 1st. Over the course of March, April, and May, he says Iowa was two-and-a-half degrees warmer than normal, and two inches below normal for precipitation. Though Iowa broke a four-year drought in May of last year, Glisan says dry conditions are still impacting water levels.
The new drought monitor map shows pockets of “moderate” drought in all four corners of the state. As corn pollination and detassling season approaches, Glisan says Iowa’s crops may become stressed.
Glisan says that could cause stress in corn and soybean fields. On the positive side, he says most of the state remains in a lull in terms of severe weather.
Here in northwest Iowa, the “moderate” drought area is smaller this week than it was last week. O’Brien County was nearly 100 percent in that category, and the area spilled into Clay County too. Now Clay County and eastern O’Brien County are only “abnormally dry” according to the Drought Monitor.
Click here for the latest map and links to more information.
(Mike Peterson, KMA, Shenandoah)
