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ST. LOUIS (AP) – The latest update on the nation’s drought shows that the parched conditions continue worsening in key farm states even as the situation across all of the continental U.S. leveled off.  The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor map shows that more than two-thirds of Iowa, the nation’s biggest corn producer, was suffering extreme or exceptional drought – the worst two classifications – as of Tuesday. That’s up more than 5 percentage points from last week, despite cooler temperatures.  Nearly all of Nebraska and Missouri are in extreme or exceptional drought, narrowly ahead of Illinois and Kansas in those two categories. The amount of Nebraska afflicted with exceptional drought conditions – the most-serious level – remained unchanged while dropping only slightly in Illinois.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Griswold Fire and Rescue crews were called to the scene of a single-vehicle injury accident this morning, north of Griswold. According to the Cass County Communications Center, a pickup truck left the road and entered the north ditch near the intersection of Highways 6 and 48, on Highway 6. The accident was reported just before 6:15-a.m.  The driver, and only occupant of the vehicle reportedly suffered from head injuries and chest pains. He was said to be conscious and breathing. No other information is currently available.

Despite the warmer temperatures Wednesday, State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says August could break up a 10-month long streak in Iowa. Temperatures in August have averaged roughly two-and-a-half degrees cooler than normal. “Chances are fairly good we’ll end the month with below average temperatures, despite warmer weather off and on the next week or two,” Hillaker said. The cooler-than-normal trend in August is a drastic change from July – which entered the record books as the fourth warmest month, on average, in Iowa history. “We haven’t had a month averaging below normal dating all the way back to September 2011 and many of those months were quite a bit above normal” Hillaker said. “This has been quite a change from what we’ve been seeing.”

In July, the capital city of Des Moines recorded 10 days with a high temperature of at least 100 degrees. In August, there have been five days where multiple cities have posted record low temperatures. “Part of that is related to the fact that it’s just so darn dry,” Hillaker said. “We have very low humidity, which allows air to cool off much more at night than it would otherwise and that makes it easier to get unusually low temperatures.”

Iowa has posted nine consecutive weeks with below normal precipitation. There have been some unusual single day temperature swings in August as well. For example, on Tuesday, Hillaker said Mason City hit a low of 41 in the morning before warming up to 81 in the afternoon. Here in Atlantic, our 24-hour low Wednesday was 52. The thermometer darted up to 95 during the afternoon. That was just 5-degrees shy of tying the record High for August 22nd.

Investigators with the Council Bluffs Police Department think an accident Wednesday morning involving a semi which rolled into the median off of Interstate 29, was caused by a sleepy driver. According to reports, semi, driven by 24-year old James Balcome, of Minneapolis, MN, was traveling north on I-29, when the big rig left the road and overturned in the median on the northwest side of Council Bluffs.

Balcome was trapped, standing inside the cab of the truck when authorities arrived. He suffered from scrapes and cuts, but was otherwise uninjured. Police officers had to break out a remaining portion of the cab’s windshield to free the man, who was then able to walk out on his own. He transported to Alegent Health Mercy Hospital, for treatment.

Balcome was cited for failure to maintain control of a vehicle.

Authorities in Red Oak say two men were arrested Wednesday, on separate charges. At around 8:30-p.m., officers with the Red Oak Police Department took 27-year old Kenton Jarvis Schooling into custody on a Delivery of Controlled Substance, charge. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 bond.

And, at around 5-p.m. Wednesday, 36-year old William Edward Frazier was arrested on a Mills County warrant for Failure To Appear at court proceedings. He was taken into custody after police received a tip Frazier was residing at a home in the 300 block of East Market Street.  The man was transported to Mills County, where he was being held on $12,000 bond.

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — Police say no one was hurt when a freight train clipped the back of semitrailer in Le Mars in northwest Iowa. Police say the truck driver was waiting to turn at an intersection and the trailer was on top of the train tracks behind him. The Union Pacific train hit the back of the trailer ripping it open and tossing the contents into a nearby ditch. Authorities say the trucker said he couldn’t pull forward enough to get the trailer off the tracks because there was too much traffic, and pulling into the traffic would have caused another accident.

A fire early Wednesday morning in north central Page County resulted in the destruction of a hoop barn containing about 200 large round bales of hay, but no one was injured.

Photo by Brian Hamman/Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency Coordinator.

According to reports, the call from the scene of the fire at 1011 Ironwood Avenue, near Nyman, came in at around 5-a.m., Wednesday.  As the first fire crews approached the property owned by Todd Allen, heavy smoke and fire could be seen from  a long distance away.

Montgomery Co. EMA/photo (Brian Hamman)

When they arrived, one out of three hoop barns were on fire. In the end, despite several hours worth of effort from as many as seven area fire departments, the hoop barn was a total loss, but crews managed to save the remaining two barns.  Fire officials say they believe spontaneous combustion is to blame for the blaze.

The hoop barn fire wasn’t the only hay-related blaze to have occurred Wednesday. Firefighters from Stanton and Red Oak also fought a 20-bale fire at a separate location in Stanton.

Damage to nearby hoop barn. (Brian Hamman/photo)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press