This past week?s U.S. Drought Monitor saw some increased drought conditions for parts of Iowa, particularly in the southeast. However, northwest Iowa went largely unchanged. Iowa State Climatologist Dr. Justin Glisan provided the details from the most recent report.
While some parts of the state are drier right now, that doesn?t mean the crops look terrible. In fact, some timely rains have helped things keep going. Glisan said he even saw some areas that still have great-looking crops while he was crop scouting, but we still need those timely rains for the crops to produce.
Recently, northwest Iowa has been the worst off with drought conditions bleeding over from the west. Glisan said they were status quo this week, which means the conditions didn?t get any better or worse.
Last week, we some very hot and humid conditions. However, that?s not always due to incoming weather. Glisan said the transpiring corn fields offload a ton of moisture as vapor and can even bring thunderstorms into the area.
For more information on Iowa?s weather patterns, visit https://iowaagriculture.gov/climatology-bureau.
