Iowa out of drought for first time in 4 years thanks to a torrential May

For the first time in four years, the drought has broken in Iowa.

With the release of the most recent U.S. Drought Monitor report, just over 75% of the state is no longer in drought, with the remaining quarter only “abnormally dry,” which is just a precursor to any genuine drought.

Adequate rainfall came alongside severe weather throughout May, where some weather stations in the state saw between 150% to 200% of their monthly moisture averages.

State Climatologist Justin Glisan says some portions of the state are looking at near-historic rainfall immediately after the historic drought.

“Northwest and north central Iowa are in the fourth and third wettest springs on record, and records go back 132 years to 1893," he said.

Some of those reporting weather stations had precipitation deficits that amounted to an entire year’s worth of rainfall, up to 35 inches in some places.

Glisan added that adequate rainfall has been a long time coming.

“You’d have to go back to June 30 of 2020 to find a ‘drought-free’ map, so that just goes to show you how much rainfall has improved,” he said.

In northeast Iowa, which is still mostly abnormally dry, repeated rainfall in the last month has put crop planting even further behind schedule.

The optimal last day for planting corn has passed, and there’s been visible flooding and pooling of fields, making it nearly impossible for farmers to plant.

Over 80% of the state’s corn has been planted, putting the process close to a week behind schedule.

Iowa State Field Agronomist Terry Basol said the excess moisture is great, but it does leave questions about what will go into the remaining acres.

“We’re at the end of May,” he said. “So, the next question is: how late is too late to plant corn to make sure that we can get it to the end of the season with some yield?”

After the May planting deadline, potential corn yields tend to decline rapidly.

Glisan agrees that the sudden downpours have made things difficult, but tornadoes aside, the good so far outweighs the bad.

“Row crops of course have had a tough time, but it’s hard to say it’s too much moisture given how dry it’s been over the past 203 weeks," he said. "Right now, we’re banking soil moisture for the growing season.”

He said that more rain may be on the horizon, as June tends to be Iowa’s wettest month of the year.

“The initial outlooks do show an elevated signal for wetter conditions. We typically see 5.3 inches in June, so if we get 150% to 200% of that, it’ll be a lot of moisture."