Much of Region Still Rated in Moderate Drought

While rain and snow last week brought some improvement, most of north central and northeast Iowa remain rated in moderate drought in the latest U.S. Drought Monitor for Iowa.

Based on precipitation through 7 am Tuesday, March 11th, all of Allamakee, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Floyd, Hancock, Kossuth, Mitchell, Winnebago and Worth counties are still in D1 for moderate drought.

Precipitation totals last week included about an inch for Fayette and Waterloo; about one-and-a-third inch recorded in New Hampton, Waukon, Decorah, Waucoma, Grundy Center, and Mason City; with around one-and-a-half inches for Charles City, Osage, Nashua, Elkader, and Saint Ansgar.

Recent precipitation helped the southwest third of Franklin County and the southwest corner of Grundy County improve to the DO category for abnormally, with remaining areas of both counties still in moderate. Almost all of Hardin County also improved to abnormally dry.

Rains the previous week have been countered by warmer-than-average temperatures this week, including record highs on Monday (03.10) of 67 for Charles City, 63 at the Mason City Airport, and 76 at the Waterloo Airport.

Tuesday (03.11) saw new record highs of 64 in Mason City, 65 in Osage, 68 in New Hampton, Oelwein, Fayette and Hampton, 71 in Decorah, and 74 in Grundy Center.