(Radio Iowa) – The new report from the U-S Drought Monitor shows more counties now showing dry conditions. The Iowa D-N-R’s Tim Hall says the negative outweighs the positive in the report. “We had a little bit of improvement in one part of the state — but mostly we had degradation or increasing drought in other parts of the state,” Hall says. He says the driest area continues to be in western Iowa. “It’s centered around Carroll, Greene, Guthrie and Audubon County and then in the partial counties around there,” Hall says. “Kind of that part of the state, there’s a little bit of D-two drought in Plymouth County up in northwest Iowa. So, those two areas together are the worst parts.”
Hall says the dry conditions have started to spread to the east. “Now there’s exceptional dryness as far east as Linn County, and then also along the river,” according to Hall. “So we’ve got about half the state, a little over half the state is shown in some form of dryness and drought.” Hall says the impact of the dry areas can also be seen in satellite images of the crops. “There’s a tool out there called VegDRI — which also comes from the drought monitor folks — and they’re actually looking at visual indications of stress in vegetation. And that VegDRI map lines up pretty closely with where we’ve seen the precipitation deficits,” Hall says.
He says the good news for the western areas that are dry is the impact right now isn’t hitting water supplies.”I think because of the exceptionally wet couple of years we had coming into this year we’re still doing okay on the groundwater side. Right now it’s primarily an agricultural surface water phenomenon,” he says. Hall says the precipitation deficit is a concern because we are soon going to be heading out of the wettest months of the year, and could be behind in groundwater going into the winter.
Today and tonight: Hot and humid conditions are expected to persist today, mainly across the southern half of the state with highest heat index values of 100 to 105.
Thunderstorms are also expected today into tonight, moving generally from north to south across the state. There is a marginal risk of severe thunderstorms across much of central Iowa with the main concern from strong to damaging thunderstorm winds. Locally heavy rainfall is also possible.
Monday through Saturday: Some isolated thunderstorms are expected late in the work week across Iowa. The severe threat appears low at this time.
The National Weather Service has issued a HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING for the entire State of Iowa. Expect a heat index of up to 105 degrees.
* IMPACTS…Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses such as heat exhaustion or heat stroke to occur.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances.
(Radio Iowa) – A new map from the National Drought Mitigation Center shows dry conditions worsening in western and central Iowa. State climatologist Justin Glisan says 15 counties are now in what’s considered severe drought. “Over the last 30 to 45 days, we’ve seen a dwindling rainfall, especially across west-central Iowa,” Glisan says. “If we go back four to six months, we actually see precipitation deficits in the range of eight to 12 inches, so we’ve been dry, especially across western Iowa.”
Glisan says he’s constantly asked about when and if any significant rainfall is coming to Iowa. “The forecast models just have been off for some reason,” Glisan says. “When we expect rain out of Nebraska, it comes toward western Iowa and you can watch it on radar, it just sort of vanishes. Because of those dry conditions, there’s not enough moisture at the surface to really pop those storms up.” Glisan says he remains hopeful the situation may change soon.”If we look at our outlooks moving into next week, it looks like we’re starting to turn down the temperature dial,” he says, “and along with that, we’re trending towards near-normal rainfall moving into the first of August.”
A very hot weekend is ahead but the forecast calls for the chance of rain Sunday night, moving into Monday. Severe drought is shown in part or all of these 15 counties: Adair, Audubon, Boone, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Dallas, Greene, Guthrie, Madison, Polk, Sac, Shelby, Story and Webster.
(Radio Iowa) – Another sweltering July weekend is in the forecast, as high temperatures tomorrow (Saturday) across Iowa are expected to climb into the low- to mid-90s with heat indices returning to the triple digits. Mark Mintun, an emergency medical staffer at Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City, says if you’re planning on being active and outside, you must push fluids “It’s all about hydration,” Mintun says. “You should start in the morning when it’s still cool out. You should be drinking water, sports drinks, Pedialyte, whatever you like the best or think works the best. If you work outside, you really have to be proactive and start drinking early in the morning and drink every time you think of it.”
Without taking precautions and staying well hydrated in this heat, Mintun says you could be facing a very unpleasant road. “Heat exhaustion, you’ll get kind of dizzy, you’ll sweat a ton, your skin will feel cool and clammy even though your body is hot,” Mintun says. “Your heart will be going fast and you’ll start to get some muscle cramps. Heat stroke, things get a lot worse. You’ll get a severe headache, you don’t sweat any more, again a fast heart rate and you’ll feel very faint. You may even pass out.”
If you don’t pay attention to the warning signs, Mintun says your condition can quickly go from bad to worse. “Heat exhaustion can transition very rapidly to heat stroke,” Mintun says. “Once you start getting cramps and sweating bad and just feeling overall horrible, you have to get to a cool area, you have to hydrate. If that’s not working, you’re probably going to have to seek emergency medical attention.” Other tips for beating the heat include: wear plenty of sunscreen, wear light-colored, light-weight clothing — and a hat — and take frequent breaks in the shade or indoors. Keep up with the latest forecast at weather-dot-gov.
Area counties: Sac-Crawford-Carroll-Audubon-Guthrie-Dallas-Cass-Adair-Madison-Adams-Union-Taylor-Ringgold–
Warm-humid air will continue to push into western and central Iowa this afternoon. Air temperatures are forecast to reach the lower 90s, with dewpoint temperatures in the low to mid 70s. This combination will result in heat index values in excess of 100 degrees, with a few localized spots possibly reaching 105 degrees for a brief period this afternoon. Warmest conditions will occur between 1-4 P.M. Limit outdoor activities if possible today. If you must be outside, take frequent breaks, and remain properly hydrated.
(Radio Iowa) — Iowa farmers will want to take note as what’s being called a La Nina Watch is being issued by the Climate Prediction Center, which forecasts a possible cooling in the Pacific Ocean’s surface over the next six months. Doug Kluck, the regional climate service director for the National Weather Service in Kansas City, says the long-range development is far from certain, but they’re watching carefully. “Right now, it looks weak, if it’s going to happen at all,” Kluck says. “It’s not a very good chance. There’s not a lot of confidence it’s going to happen yet. As we get closer and closer to fall, that confidence will hopefully go up in terms of what’s actually going to happen.”
Kluck says a La Nina pattern can have impacts all across the country, sometimes bringing significant changes in weather patterns and dramatic shifts for agriculture. “Temperatures in the southern part of the U.S. tend to be above normal,” Kluck says, “and temperatures as you move north are closer to normal or even below-normal as you get a stronger and stronger La Nina event.” Kluck says Iowa and the rest of the Northern Plains region could see more rain and snow under a La Nina. “And with precipitation, it’s kind of a similar game here,” Kluck says. “Drier to the south and wetter to the north, especially in the north-central part of the U.S. again, if the La Nina signature occurs in the Pacific.”
Kluck says observers will have a better idea of the strength of the possible La Nina by late fall into early winter.
(Radio Iowa) – Information from air quality monitors showed several cases where the air quality exceeded the E-P-A limit for fine particles in the air during the Fourth of July weekend. The D-N-R’s Todd Russell says the state generally does not have such long-term periods where the air exceeds the federal standard. Russell says there was one in Davenport in 2012. “That one was pretty significant. I believe we have had maybe a couple of other exceedances at one or two sites over the last several years. But this was by far the largest and most extensive as far as area wise as well as the intensity or the levels,” Russell says.
He says air monitors saw issues in Des Moines, Davenport, and Muscatine on July 4th, and in Des Moines and Clive on July 5th. Russell says they don’t know for sure — but the problems were most likely created by people shooting off fireworks — NOT professional fireworks shows. He says that was particularly the case in the Des Moines area. “Just observations and what folks all around town saw. The smoke hanging at low levels and the spread of the smoke pretty much all over the city,” according to Russell. “I would guess it was much more local personal fireworks. But that is somewhat a guess on my part.”
Russell says the calm weather conditions likely contributed to the problem. “The smoke did not tend to rise as it normally would in normal conditions. The calm winds and the atmospheric inversion — or a capping layer over our ground-level air — held all that smoke, both down close to the ground, and allowed it to just spread out rather than being blow away in one direction or another.” He says the air in Iowa this summer has otherwise been clean. Russel says less traffic on the roadways and businesses shut down by the pandemic may be contributing to cleaner air.
“Possibly our air quality has been better due to the decrease in economic activity. I would say that is more true possibly for ozone than particulate. It is not something that we can quantify,” Russel says. Ozone is created by cars and trucks on the roadways.
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