(Des Moines) The widespread rain this past week is showing up in this week’s drought monitoring across Iowa. State Climatologist Justin Glisan says portions of the state improved by one category. For example, areas in D1 have now upgraded to abnormally dry, and some abnormally dry areas have been removed from the periphery of the drought region.
Glisan says drought conditions decreased by 20 percent for April due to above-normal rainfall.
Glisan says we are transitioning from an El Nino to ENSO-neutral weather conditions, with a high probability of moving to a La Nina this summer. He says as El Nino subsides, we enter that ENSO neutral phase.
Glisan says that during a transition from El Nino in the winter to La Nina in the summer, there is a warm signal, meaning warmer-than-normal summer conditions are probable. He says the chances for precipitation are all over the board.
Audubon, 2.02 inches, Atlantic, 2.55, Creston, 3.04, Denison, 3.66, Red Oak, 2.07, and Clarinda 4.33 inches of rain. In the meantime, wet conditions continue with a 95-percent chance for scattered thunderstorms tonight.