Hopes raised in January for a turnaround in the state drought situation went away as February turned dry.
Iowa D-N-R Hydrologist, Tim Hall says the latest Drought Monitor Report shows 56 percent of the state is rated in severe drought…
Drought conditions have improved locally as Buena Vista County and most of northwest Iowa is now just considered abnormally dry. 20 percent of Iowa is in Extreme Drought, with all of that on the eastern side of the state.
Hall says the January snow was good, but when it melted in February, it illustrated how dry things are…
Storm Lake received close to 20 inches of snow in January, and has gotten two inches this month.
Hall says the dry soil sucked up most of the snow melt and there was not a lot left to refill empty streams and rivers. But Hall says all that surplus has gone away in what may end up being the driest February on record…
Hall says we typically get a lot more rain in the spring months, and we’ll need that to work toward getting rid of the drought.
(thanks to Radio Iowa for contributing)
