Before this month, we were all worried about the drought conditions in Iowa as it continued for over 200 weeks. However, we’re now completely on the other end of the spectrum, as there is no longer any drought listed in Iowa. Iowa State Climatologist Dr. Justin Glisan gave an update on the latest U.S. Drought Monitor.
Over the past few growing seasons, we’ve been in significant thunderstorm deficits, which leads to drought conditions since we get most of our rainfall from those storms. This year, though, we’ve seen plenty of thunderstorms, tornadoes, and even another derecho.
Astonishingly, there have been over 100 tornadoes in Iowa this year already- which leads the nation- and unfortunately there have been several fatalities from those tornadoes. There have also been significant delays to planting, but Glisan said these storms have provided the drought buster that we sorely needed.
The storms also occurred in favorable conditions for storm chasers, and Glisan said the data they obtained from these recent storms will be used to increase the warnings times even further for future storms and save lives.
For more information, visit iowaagriculture.gov/climatology-bureau.
