Statewide Iowa — Areas of Iowa that have suffered through months of drought may see some relief soon with the development of an El Niño weather pattern, as the Climate Prediction Center has issued an El Niño Watch for this summer.
Doug Kluck, the Central Region climate service director for the National Weather Service, says the El Niño would come after three years of a La Niña.
An El Niño occurs when Pacific Ocean surface temperatures rise above normal, and for Iowa, it typically means moderate temperatures and better chances for precipitation. Kluck says weather patterns change under an El Niño.
Kluck says the El Niño is expected to develop rapidly this summer. Parts of Woodburn and Monona counties are in the worst categories of drought: exceptional, extreme and severe, while moderate to severe drought extends across wide sections of western Iowa. Large areas of central and eastern Iowa are considered extremely dry by the US Drought Monitor.
