Iowa Looks To Be In For Long, Dry Heatwave

I don't know about you, but the sprinkler was running at our house this weekend. The grass is beginning to take on that hint of brown, and the weather we'll be dealing with is likely to make it worse.

Cedar Rapids hasn't been part of the drought talk so far this spring, but we're definitely on that path. In May, the National Weather Service reports Cedar Rapids received 2.70 inches of rain. That's 1.55 inches below normal. From March 1 through May 31, Cedar Rapids has received just 5.88 inches of precipitation, that's 3.92 inches below the normal total of 9.80.

Obviously, the above situation isn't being helped by the newly arrived heatwave. The warm and humid weather isn't going anywhere for the foreseeable future. After reaching 90 degrees on Saturday, temperatures peaked in the mid-80s on Sunday. Monday's highs are expected to again be in the middle 80s. It appears that will be the "coolest" day of at least the next seven. Tuesday through Sunday, temperatures will range from 89 to 92 each day with low temperatures expected to be near 70 each night. The Weather Channel actually expects the above normal temperatures to continue for at least the next two weeks. Soaking rains aren't expected.

Large parts of Iowa are now in either severe or moderate drought and if no rain comes this week, the above average temperatures that are in the forecast will likely push many other areas from abnormally dry into an official drought. Here's hoping the rains come. Sure I'd like it for my lawn and the lawn care companies that depend on that revenue, but I always think of Iowa's farmers first.