w/ Jim Field
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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa state climatologist says the 2012 drought is even worse than the 1988 event and the worst since 1936. Climatologist Harry Hillaker told The Gazette that the heat and dry July has pushed this year’s drought above ’88 drought for breadth and severity. Hillaker says the 1936 drought in Iowa also was fueled by a torrid July, the hottest and second-driest in 140 years.
Climatologist Brian Fuchs at the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Neb., says “heat makes droughts drier, and droughts make heat hotter.” Fuchs says a high-pressure system that has kept many storms from watering the nation’s grain belt has strengthened and could remain as a rain barrier for two more months. The center reported last week that the drought covers two-thirds of the continental U.S.
Jim Field discusses the hot and dry weather stats from the month of July.
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Discarded smoking materials are believed to have been the cause of a fire in Atlantic Tuesday afternoon that caused extensive damage to a home on Front Street. Atlantic Fire Chief Mark McNees said the call from the residence owned by Bev Carroll and Shane Davis, at 511 Front Street, came in at around 3:30-p.m.
The Chief says Shane received a call from his children who were in the home along with a young friend, about smoke coming from a bedroom closet. The children, ages 12, eight and five, attempted to fight the fire but couldn’t. They escaped the home safely. Davis arrived at the house and attempted to gain access to the home, but couldn’t. McNees said the man eventually broke out a window and tried to use a garden hose to reach the flames.
Atlantic Firefighters arrived and were able to get the fire knocked down and the house ventilated within about 30-to 45-minutes. McNees said he doesn’t know if the kids had been smoking in the house, and they denied doing so, but there was evidence of discarded smoking materials in the closet.
The bedroom and closet sustained extensive fire damage, while the rest of the residence had extensive smoke damage. No injuries were reported, in association with the fire or the attempts to fight it.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The ongoing drought – combined with the global economic turmoil – is hurting business in nine Midwest and Plains states and increasing worries about the possibility of another recession. A report released today (Wednesday) says July’s Mid-America Business Conditions Index plunged below growth neutral for the first time since 2008. The index hit 48.7, compared with 57.2 in June. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says the drought will hurt farm income and the strengthening dollar hurts exports.
The survey of business leaders and supply managers uses a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Any score above 50 suggests growth while a score below 50 suggests decline for that factor. The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
Police in Red Oak report an Elliott teen has been arrested on forgery and possession of stolen property charges, following an investigation into stolen checks. 17-year-old Cheryl Ann Hallcock was taken into custody Tuesday on two felony counts of Forgery, and two simple misdemeanor charges of Possession of Stolen Property. The teen was arrested in connection with an investigation to a report by a male victim of the crime that some of his checks had been taken and used without his consent. Hallcock was transported to the Juvenile Detention Center in Council Bluffs. Officials believe others were involved in the crime, and additional arrests are expected, as their investigation continues.
One of Iowa’s hottest-ever Julys is behind us now, but forecasters say the August ahead won’t be much different. State climatologist Harry Hillaker says the prolonged drought of the past several weeks put this July among the stickiest in Iowa’s history, though the wealth of month-end data is still being tabulated. “Generally, you’re looking at probably the third-hottest July on record for the state of Iowa and that’s based on 140 years of records,” Hillaker says. “The last time we would’ve had a hotter July is probably going to be 1936 and the other one that was hotter was way back in 1901.”
Here in Atlantic, the average High for the month was 94-degrees. The average Low was 66. We had four days when the temperature was 100-degrees or greater. The hottest day was July 25th, when we hit 102-degrees. There were only three days during the month, when the High temp in Atlantic was less than 90-degrees. Some areas of the state will finish off the month being several inches short on rainfall. In Atlantic, we received just a trace of rain last month.
When the numbers are all in statewide, this July will likely be the fifth-driest July in Iowa history, he says, and the month is among some notorious company. Hillaker says “The top three are: 1886 brought us the driest summer on record, 1936 was our hottest summer on record, and 1894, the third-driest July, ended up being the driest growing season on record.” Just because we’re in a new month doesn’t mean there’ll be a new forecast. Hillaker says it looks like August will be more of the same. “Temperatures, at least in the beginning part of August, I still expect will be averaging well above normal,” he says. “Normal highs right now are about 85 or so so 90s is well above normal.” There’s a chance for a few more rain showers on the horizon but “nothing looks very substantial.”
Temperatures for the next week are expected to be above-normal but not as extreme as the past couple weeks. Forecasters also say another sustained period of 100-degree-plus weather is not likely, at least for the next few weeks.
(Radio Iowa/Ric Hanson-KJAN)
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