(State) The August 10th Derecho was undoubtedly the biggest weather event to take place in the state during the month of August according to State Climatologist Justin Glisan.
While dry conditions continued to make their mark, it pales in comparison to the devastating winds brought by the Derecho. “It really exploded as it entered West Central Iowa and then from about Carroll over to the Quad Cities we saw some pretty substantial agricultural and urban damage. Initial estimates that we have show 3.5 million acres of corn damaged or destroyed and 2.5 million acres of soybeans damaged or destroyed.”
Glisan says we’ll get a better sense of its impact once we get into the harvest season. The wind speeds reached 130 miles per hour in eastern Iowa. “This Derecho event lasted 14 hours and it spanned 770 miles from South Dakota to Ohio where it dissipated. This August 10th event will be a substantial day in weather history for the state of Iowa.”
It was the 10th derecho in Iowa since 1980, but the others hardly compare. “Going back in history we haven’t seen a Derecho with the width of the swath that we saw and the amount of damage, especially in agriculture. This will be the strongest Derecho for sure in the last 30 years and preliminary it will be the strongest Derecho to move through Iowa in Iowa history.”
The preliminary statewide precipitation averaged 1.30 inches or 2.90 inches below normal. The statewide average temperature was 72.3 degrees, slightly less than a degree above normal.
Southwest Iowa reported an average temperature of 72.9 degrees, which is near normal. All of the southwest corner was unseasonably dry; the preliminary average rainfall for the region was 0.73 inch, which is about three inches below normal.
Atlantic’s high temperature of 97 degrees occurred on the 23rd while the coldest overnight low of 46 degrees occurred on the 30th and 31st. The average high was 87 degrees, three degrees warmer than normal. The average low was 58 degrees, one degree below normal. Atlantic only received 0.86 inch of rainfall, slightly less than three inches below normal. This ranks August 2020 as the 7th driest since the National Weather Service coop station, Atlantic 1 E, became operational in 1893. The highest 24-hour rainfall of 0.59 hundredths of an inch was reported on August 2nd. Measurable rain fell on seven days during the month.
