This week’s Drought Monitor for Iowa is dramatically different than it was one year ago, with northeast Iowa now completely free of drought and/or abnormally dry conditions.
Based on the status of precipitation through 7 am Tuesday, July 9, the latest Drought Monitor map shows no areas of drought across the entire state, with the only signs of abnormally dry conditions in Scott and Clinton counties. That’s less than 1% of the state.
State Climatologist Justin Glisan says the last time Iowa had no abnormally dry areas was in early May of 2020. The state has been free of actual drought conditions since late May of this year – which stopped four-years of drought conditions.
By comparison, the Drought Map for July 13, 2023, rated all of Butler, Bremer, Black Hawk counties in D2/severe drought, along with about half of Floyd, Chickasaw and Allamakee counties, plus two-thirds of Fayette County. The remainder of those counties, plus all of Howard, Mitchell, Worth, Cerro Gordo and Winneshiek counties and the majority of Franklin County rated in D1/moderate drought.
