(KIWA Staff Photo)Iowa (RI) — State Climatologist Justin Glisan says the heat dome that settled over Iowa in August influenced both temperatures and rainfall patterns.
Glisan says August will finish outside the top 25 warmest on record. The month averaged 5.25 inches of rainfall, about 1.12 inches above normal. He says the heat dome determined where that precipitation fell, leaving the driest areas dry again.
He says the rain formed a swath from western to eastern Iowa that bent south.
Glisan explains how the heat dome determined where the rains fell.
Glisan says that ridge also blocked much of northern Iowa from receiving rainfall.
The heat dome has returned as September begins, but Glisan says it has shifted northward.
Glisan says that could help out drier areas of the state recover some of their moisture deficit.
