(Des Moines) October was the second driest month on record in 152 years of record keeping until late October when the thirsty soils received much-needed rainfall. State Climatologist Dr. Justin Glisan says Atlantic, for example, picked up 1.68 inches on October 31.
Glisan says with the rainfall in late October across the state, the average rainfall bumped up to 1.9 inches, about eight-tenths-of-an-inch below average. The entire state averaged four to six degrees above average on the temperature side. The statewide temperature for this time is about 57 degrees. He says southwest Iowa ended up about five degrees above average and about 75 percent of normal for precipitation.
Dr. Glisan says even with the rainfall at the end of October, it still ranked in the top one-third of driest months in 152 months of record keeping.
