Northwest Iowa — We probably won’t have as much issue with rain as further south and east in Iowa, but the harvest that farmers are in the middle of may have to be put on hold for a week or two. That from the hydrologist at the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls.
Wet conditions continue to be an issue for farmers, and the immediate forecast doesn’t show much improvement says the Weather Service’s Mike Gillispie. But, he says we probably won’t have widespread flooding like they’re expecting elsewhere in Iowa.
He says it will be wet, however.
The good news according to Gillispie is the rain will be spread out in two or three shots over a week rather than a super event on one day. The bad news he says is that there’s not as much evaporation during the day in the autumn, and the ground is already kind of wet. And unfortunately, it’s going to stay wet for a while.
He says, fortunately, it doesn’t look like we’ll have any lasting snow for a while, which should give farmers a chance to get the crop out later in the month. He says it will be cool, but not cold enough to snow for a while yet.
Dr. Charles Hurburgh of Iowa State University says the cold could turn out to help the situation instead of hinder it.
He says there’s very little concern about yields at this point, but all the extra rain could take a toll on the quality of the grain.
