Iowa Descends into Worst Drought Conditions in a Decade

A late-summer heat wave has pushed the state of Iowa into its worst drought in a decade. The U.S. Drought Monitor now reports that the state is seeing the heaviest drought conditions since March 2013, eclipsing the worst months of June and early July. The final week of August was a whopping 10 degrees hotter than average in Iowa, while rainfall was about one-fifth of what is typically expected for the state.

Another heat wave over Labor Day weekend pushed conditions further, with about 80% of the state in some drought classification and 18% suffering from extreme drought, the second-to-worst category. Northeast Iowa is suffering the most, impacting about two dozen counties.

Read more about drought in Iowa here.