Articles Tagged: Drought

Those celebrating in Iowa should expect rain, wind and temperatures in the high 50s, thanks to the El Niño effect.

The state’s dryness has continued to worsen, and extreme drought now encompasses more than a third of Iowa, according to a U.S. Drought Monitor report released Thursday.

Iowa’s year-to-date average precipitation is now 25.4 inches — about 8 inches below normal, according to the Iowa DNR.

Statewide average precipitation was 3.12 inches in October, but state is still 7 inches short of moisture this year.

Farmers in Iowa are routinely harvesting more than 200 bushels of corn per acre this year despite widespread drought as crop harvest reaches its conclusion, according to field agronomists for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

Predicted rains may help replenish soil moisture before the ground freezes over.

Belle Plaine is scraping the bottom of its water reserves and is searching for reprieve and solutions. It’s not the only Iowa town suffering amid the record drought.

This is the first year that exceptional drought has been recorded in Eastern Iowa.

Summer drought has caused low water levels on the Mississippi River — especially south of St. Louis

Crop yields will likely take a hit, although impacts will be variable field to field.

Almost 84 percent of the county is experiencing extreme drought — the second-highest drought intensity, according to this week’s U.S. Drought Monitor update.

As a whole, the state is drier than it’s been in more than a month. Iowa averaged less than a third of its normal rainfall last week, and high temperatures have hovered above 90 degrees since last weekend.

A hot summer and dry spring have brought drought to a large part of the Midwest. The situation highlights the complexity of exiting drought when a state or region can slip into it relatively easily. Rainfall across parts of the Midwest in recent weeks is helpful, but it may not be enough to alleviate the dryness.

Several businesses report decreased yields, smaller produce and fewer customers.

As demand for overnight river cruises on the Mississippi increases, the industry also faces increasing climate threats. Recent years have seen wild swings between heavy rainfall and severe drought, making the river tougher to navigate.