Extreme Drought Continues to Persist in Northeast Iowa

The majority of northeast Iowa remains in “extreme drought,” according to this week’s U.S. Drought Monitor for Iowa.

Based on precipitation through 7 am Tuesday, October 3, all of Allamakee, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Chickasaw, Howard, Fayette, Floyd, Mitchell and Winneshiek counties are still rated in the D3/extreme drought category. Most of Butler and Cerro Gordo counties and two-thirds of Franklin, along with about half of Worth, Clayton, and Grundy counties are also in extreme drought.

Farther to the south, almost all of Benton County, two-thirds of Linn County and about half of Tama County are rated in D4/exceptional drought, the worst drought category possible.  

The National Weather Service in Lacrosse says that from September 26th through October 3rd, most areas saw less than a half-inch of rainfall. There were some pockets of 1 to almost 1.75 inches of rain, with highest totals in the region were 1.61 inches of rain in the Cerro Gordo County township of Owen and 1.55 inches near Monona in Clayton County. 

Since April 1, precipitation deficits have ranged from near-normal to 13 inches below normal.