Iowa’s Wet Winter Mitigates Drought Conditions

Concerns over another dry start to the growing season have been mitigated in Iowa after the fourth-wettest winter on record. Roughly 89% of the state suffered from drought as recently as November, but that number has dropped to just 32% this week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Iowa’s State Climatologist Justin Glisan says the meteorological winter (December through February) averaged more than 5.5” of precipitation across the state, more than double what is usually expected. The relief is welcomed after the worst drought conditions in a decade.

But more help is needed for the northwestern part of the state, which still is under a moderate to severe drought with pockets of extreme to exceptional drought.

Read more on weather outlooks and drought monitoring ahead of planting season here.