(Area) Heavy rainfall in northern Iowa during the month of August drove up the statewide average.
Iowa received a preliminary average of 4.6″. State Climatologist Just Glisan reports that is 1/2″ above normal. “Many stations in North Central to Northeast Iowa measured more than four inches above average. In fact, most of the co-op stations in northern Iowa experienced their wettest August on record. This was significant given the drought conditions that excised. Southern Iowa stations reported near normal to below average precipitation with the driest station in South Central Iowa observing more than two inches below average.”
Southwest Iowa’s average of 3.5 was 92% of the climatological average. Meanwhile, unseasonably warm conditions were found throughout the state with an average of 73 degrees stateside and 75 degrees in Southwest Iowa, or two degrees above normal.
Glisan says year to date temperatures have averaged out to near normal, but the precip is shy of the usual total. “In terms of Southern Iowa, that’s starting to become the drier part of the state. We were kind of saved by that widespread rainfall received through the end of the day on the 31st. That kind of helped with the averages, but overall the trends have been near normal temperatures and then dryness that has transitioned into a wetter period especially across the northern half of the state.”
Glisan laughed when asked about September’s outlook because it shows equal chance for above average or below average temperatures and equal chance for above average or below average precipitation. The early forecast shows cooler than normal temperatures and a dry signal. He says to expect an early harvest.
