(Ames, IA) The National Climate Prediction Center is now forecasting the current La Nina will last well into summer — which may not be good news for parts of western Iowa in “severe drought.” director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, Dennis Todey, says the state is in relatively decent shape soil moisture-wise right now. But he says much of the region is heading into spring with very dry soil and the C-P-C is forecasting drought areas may expand across the Central Plains into spring. The latest map from the U-S Drought Monitor shows only 16 counties where soil moisture levels are considered normal.
