Meteorologists Warn Iowa Farmers Of A Repeat Of The 2012 Drought

2021 was a dry year all over the U.S. and Iowa. As we get into 2022, drought is expected to expand across the western region, raising concerns that there will be another year like 2012- full of extreme heat and drought.

Meteorologist Dennis Todey, U.S. Department of Agriculture director of the Midwest Climate Hub said in a report in WNAX,

"We are coming off La Ninas in two consecutive years. We did the same thing back in 2012. So, there's that similarity," Todey said. "There are other sea surface temperature differences that we note.”

However, Todey said this shouldn’t worry farmers much yet. There are still some contrasts between this year and 2012.

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"We had a very dry fall throughout parts of the Plains back in 2011 going into 2012, not quite as much in this time frame," Todey said. "2012 cranked up quickly by getting very warm and dry in the spring and right now we're not necessarily seeing that same kind of crank-up yet."

Throughout the Midwest, Todey told a NAFB source, farm counties have been struggling between either being too wet or too dry.

“Missouri, Iowa, kind of a mixed bag right now. In Iowa, we still have some carryover dry soils, and then we get over to parts of Wisconsin, where we've got some fairly dry soils there. We have areas that keep missing rainfall in that area. So largely wetter problems East, drier problems West and then some kind of mixed bags in between.”

Predictions coming into early summer show above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation.