***Official 2023 Weather Thread***

[BCClone]

For those who say it will take a couple years to get us to "normal". Here is a couple maps from a decade ago. Notice the drought was MUCH more severe than we have now. Lakes were down excessively.

Apparantly I didn't get the links done right, but click on the link and look at December 4th 2012 (just picked a similar time of year as today for that year) and then the second was supposed to be June 4th 2013 (just went 6 months forward)

Map Archive | U.S. Drought Monitor

View any map format for a selected week.

droughtmonitor.unl.edu

Map Archive | U.S. Drought Monitor

View any map format for a selected week.

droughtmonitor.unl.edu

 

[Iastfan112]

That map shows nothing for the north 40% of the state. All unranked basically.

Ice interference with the gauge, combination of cold enough nights and low enough stream flow means there's enough ice that you aren't getting a true read so the data is discarded. Northern Iowa is in the same boat as the other areas though, very low stream flows.

 

[NorthCyd]

For those who say it will take a couple years to get us to "normal". Here is a couple maps from a decade ago. Notice the drought was MUCH more severe than we have now. Lakes were down excessively.

Apparantly I didn't get the links done right, but click on the link and look at December 4th 2012 (just picked a similar time of year as today for that year) and then the second was supposed to be June 4th 2013 (just went 6 months forward)

Map Archive | U.S. Drought Monitor

View any map format for a selected week.

droughtmonitor.unl.edu

Map Archive | U.S. Drought Monitor

View any map format for a selected week.

droughtmonitor.unl.edu

I remember 2012 very well. My job is affected by drought and I didn't work much in the field that summer because It was extremely dry, but we had not been experiencing the years long below normal rainfall totals we are in right now. Saying it will take years to recover may be a stretch, but a couple of wet months is not going to do it either. It will need to be an extremely wet year to pull out of the long term affects we are seeing in the state right now or a couple of years of above normal rainfall. Hopefully we get that soon.

 

[Hoggins]

I'll be honest, it can stay dry. Makes my life/work easier.

 

[BCClone]

I remember 2012 very well. My job is affected by drought and I didn't work much in the field that summer because It was extremely dry, but we had not been experiencing the years long below normal rainfall totals we are in right now. Saying it will take years to recover may be a stretch, but a couple of wet months is not going to do it either. It will need to be an extremely wet year to pull out of the long term affects we are seeing in the state right now or a couple of years of above normal rainfall. Hopefully we get that soon.

For my area of North Iowa, lakes are close to their normal rates, streams are in average territory, they are still flowing (closest to me flows north) and tile lines are running. In 2012, we had huge cracks in the ground and had very little rain. This year, we had crop problems due to wind because of May/june rains being so heavy that roots didn’t go down. I had to replant and I hadn't done that for many years.

 

[ScottyP]

I'm not a fan of snow, but we definitely could use some rainy days. Snow doesn't help much with soil moisture anyways.

 

[Al_4_State]

For my area of North Iowa, lakes are close to their normal rates, streams are in average territory, they are still flowing (closest to me flows north) and tile lines are running. In 2012, we had huge cracks in the ground and had very little rain. This year, we had crop problems due to wind because of May/june rains being so heavy that roots didn’t go down. I had to replant and I hadn't done that for many years.

Go a little bit east of Mason City (Osage area) and nothing is at normal levels. We had all sorts of creeks drying straight up this summer and they haven't been restocked

 

[BCClone]

Go a little bit east of Mason City (Osage area) and nothing is at normal levels. We had all sorts of creeks drying straight up this summer and they haven't been restocked

How does it compare to 12? Were your yields off? It was spotty here but in average it was similar to last year.

 

[NWICY]

Yields down in my area and creeks and rivers are really low. It's not going to be a huge surprise when there are fish kills this winter.

 

[Al_4_State]

How does it compare to 12? Were your yields off? It was spotty here but in average it was similar to last year.

Similar to '12. Corn yield down 22%, bean yield down 13% from last year.

I saw creeks dry up that I had never seen dry up.

I'm not complaining, because we were due, and given how dry we were (we were in Exceptional drought levels on USDA map to start harvest) it's a decent yield, but we definitely got caught being the isolated severe drought while the rest of the corn belt was having a great year.

 

[wxman1]

The entire extended forecast was dry and my wife made plans to take the kids to a mom and me thing Saturday night. So I say sweet I will book the plane and go reset night currency. Now there is a 50% chance of rain forecasted. I demand an investigation.

 

[wxman1]

 

[cstrunk]

I just find it strange that we've had other years where we were in a similar drought condition, and my yard was dead brown and had huge cracks in it. No idea how long of a timeline they keep tracking deficits though.

Probably because the exact spot of your quarter acre lawn isn't representative of the amount of area the drought monitor is attempting to reflect. Rains have been extremely spotty the past couple of years. In many cases, a distance of a mile could be a difference of four to five inches annual rainfall pretty easily.

Vegetation is a short term response to rainfall and local variability plays a part as well. Same with tile line flow. We have had below average rainfall totals for over 3 years now. That has significant long term impacts.

Yep just came here to echo that point location conditions can vary drastically and are not indicative of broader scale conditions. You might have just been lucky with timely and heavier rainfalls than the majority of the surrounding area. But drought is a more of a long term issue. You might be 15" below normal yearly rainfall and everything is dead. Then you get a 3" rain one day and everything greens up a few days later. That doesn't mean you're still not in a drought, you're still 12" below normal and groundwater will be lower than normal.

 

[Cyhig]

I believe some tornadoes in northern IA/southern MN occurred with a little snow still on the ground. It also is the only December day in MN history with a recorded tornado. And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that the same day as the high end EF4 that struck Mayfield, KY? It was a wild storm system

 

[Tri4Cy]

Yep just came here to echo that point location conditions can vary drastically and are not indicative of broader scale conditions. You might have just been lucky with timely and heavier rainfalls than the majority of the surrounding area. But drought is a more of a long term issue. You might be 15" below normal yearly rainfall and everything is dead. Then you get a 3" rain one day and everything greens up a few days later. That doesn't mean you're still not in a drought, you're still 12" below normal and groundwater will be lower than normal.

This. I work in Johnston and live on the south side of DSM. We can easily see 3" snow variance between the two locations. We'll have no rain at the office and plenty at home, etc. My lawn was doing fantastic due to the wet spring but when the calendar flipped to June it was really struggling. I let it go dormant once in July but had to water frequently through the fall to help it build up before winter. Same with the landscaping. Had to water throughout the summer to keep it from burning up. The lavender was the only plant that really thrived this year...it was perfect for those!

 

[Gunnerclone]

I believe some tornadoes in northern IA/southern MN occurred with a little snow still on the ground. It also is the only December day in MN history with a recorded tornado. And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that the same day as the high end EF4 that struck Mayfield, KY? It was a wild storm system

Mayfield was on 12/10.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

Yep just came here to echo that point location conditions can vary drastically and are not indicative of broader scale conditions. You might have just been lucky with timely and heavier rainfalls than the majority of the surrounding area. But drought is a more of a long term issue. You might be 15" below normal yearly rainfall and everything is dead. Then you get a 3" rain one day and everything greens up a few days later. That doesn't mean you're still not in a drought, you're still 12" below normal and groundwater will be lower than normal.

While it might take a week for a 16 ounce glass of water to evaporate in the summer sun........it only takes a few seconds to fill it up.

Northern Texas in 2015 and California last winter are a testament to that after many seasons of below average rainfall.......just one with above average worked wonders.

Things in Iowa the summer of 92' were pretty dry....................12 months later?

Who knows what will happen this spring in Iowa.

 

[JP4CY]

Osceola's water source (nearby lake) is so low that residents are being told to drink bottled water. Probably time to send in the Guard with supplies.

 

[nfrine]

Osceola's water source (nearby lake) is so low that residents are being told to drink bottled water. Probably time to send in the Guard with supplies.

Meanwhile, ethanol production and data centers are consuming water at a record pace. Biggest users by far in Iowa.

 

[NorthCyd]

While it might take a week for a 16 ounce glass of water to evaporate in the summer sun........it only takes a few seconds to fill it up.

Northern Texas in 2015 and California last winter are a testament to that after many seasons of below average rainfall.......just one with above average worked wonders.

Things in Iowa the summer of 92' were pretty dry....................12 months later?

Who knows what will happen this spring in Iowa.

Your analogy isn't a very accurate representation of the problem some communities in Iowa are facing. Instead of an empty glass fill it to the top with sand so only a small percentage of the water you try to put into the glass infiltrates and the rest runs off. Then punch a couple of straws into the sand that people are continuously drinking out of. A little more accurate representation there.