(KIWA Staff Photo)Iowa (Sioux County Radio) — Much of Iowa received more than twice its normal rainfall during the latest reporting week, but western and northwest Iowa did not receive enough moisture to improve drought conditions.
The statewide average was 1.87 inches for the week ending August 9th, compared with a normal 0.88 inches. Rainfall totals varied significantly across the state.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said many areas benefited from widespread rain and weekend storms, but western and northwest Iowa remained too dry for drought improvement.
Statewide soil-moisture numbers showed continuing dryness. 28% of Iowa’s topsoil was rated short or very short on moisture, while 34% of subsoil fell into those categories.
Crop Conditions Remain Strong
Despite uneven rainfall, Iowa’s corn and soybean crops remain mostly in good-to-excellent condition.
The USDA’s latest Crop Progress and Condition Report rated:
- 78% of corn good to excellent
- 77% of soybeans good to excellent
Corn development continues to advance:
- 97% silking (2 points ahead of last year)
- 69% in the dough stage (3 points ahead)
- 12% dented (2 points behind)
Soybean progress remains steady:
- 93% blooming (1 point ahead)
- 72% setting pods (2 points behind)
Iowa’s oat harvest reached 93% complete, 13 points ahead of last year. Oats were rated 82% good to excellent, while pasture conditions were rated 66% good to excellent.
Farmers had 5.1 days suitable for fieldwork, about four-tenths of a day more than the same week last year.
Storms Bring Heavy Rain and Damage Elsewhere
Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms produced well-above-normal rainfall in parts of Iowa. The heaviest weekly total was 5.77 inches at Murray in southern Iowa, where some locations received more than a month’s worth of rain.
Severe weather was concentrated primarily in eastern Iowa. An EF-2 tornado was reported near Fairbank in Buchanan County, and an EF-1 tornado occurred near Prairieburg in Linn County. Other storms produced damaging winds, hail, and flash flooding.
Temperatures averaged 74.5 degrees statewide, about four-tenths of a degree above normal. Des Moines recorded the week’s high of 91 degrees on August 9th.
Spencer Municipal Airport recorded Iowa’s weekly low of 47 degrees on August 8th — 14 degrees below normal.
The report covers conditions through Sunday, August 9th, and does not include rainfall northwest Iowa has received since then.
