Most of the state received below normal rainfall and experienced mild temperatures. These conditions allowed Iowa farmers 5.1 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending July 14, 2024, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Field activities included harvesting oats for grain, cutting and baling hay, and applying fungicides.
Topsoil moisture condition across Iowa rated 6 percent short, 84 percent adequate and 10 percent surplus. Topsoil moisture in west central Iowa rated 1 percent very short, 12 percent short, 81 percent adequate and 6 percent surplus.
Subsoil moisture condition statewide rated 1 percent very short, 8 percent short, 82 percent adequate and 9 percent surplus. Ratings in west central Iowa were 4 percent very short, 10 percent short, 81 percent adequate and 5 percent surplus.
Corn silking or beyond reached 44 percent, one day ahead of last year and three days ahead of the five-year average. Corn crop in the dough stage reached 6 percent, five days ahead of the average. Corn condition rated 74 percent good to excellent.
Soybean crop blooming reached 50 percent, three days behind last year. Soybeans setting pods reached 12 percent, one day behind last year but equal to the five-year average. Soybean condition rated 72 percent good to excellent.
The state’s second cutting of alfalfa hay reached 57 percent complete, five days behind last year but two days ahead of the average. Hay condition rated 78 percent good to excellent. Pasture condition rated 71 percent good to excellent. Some pastures remain flooded and where floodwaters have receded some pastures are covered in silt.
IOWA PRELIMINARY WEATHER SUMMARY provided by Justin Glisan, Ph.D., state climatologist Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship – Iowans experienced near normal temperatures for most of the reporting period before unseasonable warmth returned toward the end of the week; the statewide average temperature was 73.7 degrees, 1.0 degree cooler than normal. Rainfall was reported statewide, though most stations registered below average totals; only the far northeast corner received above normal rain.
Thundershowers continued to fire on Sunday afternoon, July 7, with stronger storms forming in western and northern Iowa over the evening hours. The cells consolidated as they moved into central Iowa and then pushed east through the early morning hours of Monday. There were several reports of severe straight line winds and large hail; Albion (Marshall County) registered a 69 mph gust while two-inch hail was observed in Sheldon (O’Brien County). More than half of Iowa’s stations reporting rainfall had at least 0.30 inches with higher totals from north central to southeast Iowa; Marshalltown (Marshall County) measured 1.61 inches with 2.01 inches at Bloomfield (Davis County). Clouds cleared west to east through the day with temperatures in the upper 70s and low 80s. Spotty thundershowers also popped across eastern Iowa with several stations reporting measurable amounts near an inch; two Lee County stations, Fort Madison and West Point, reported 0.71 and 0.93 inches, respectively.
Clear skies and light winds developed overnight with morning lows Tuesday, July 9, in the mid to upper 60s. High level clouds from the remains of Hurricane Beryl overspread the state into the afternoon with highs ranging from the low 70s southeast to low 80s northwest. An upper level low pressure center sitting over the Upper Midwest spun showers and thunderstorms into northern Iowa after midnight with further development later in the day on Wednesday. Stronger storms formed along the Iowa-Missouri border into the evening where locally heavy downpours were observed. Slow moving thunderstorms persisted in east central Iowa over the early hours of Wednesday. Morning lows dropped into the upper 50s in western Iowa with conditions up to 10 degrees warmer east. Rain totals were highest in eastern and southwest Iowa with 1.20 inches in Creston (Union County) and 2.13 inches in Coralville (Johnson County). General rainfall amounts were in the 0.20 to 0.40 inches range with a statewide average of 0.23 inches. Daytime conditions were partly cloudy with variable winds and temperatures in the lows 70s north to low 80s south.
High pressure dominated the weather pattern on Thursday, July 11, with morning temperatures in the 60s and patchy fog across southern Iowa. Wind shifted to the east through the day with pleasant temperatures in the low 80s under mostly sunny skies. Stars were visible overnight into Friday as morning temperatures bottomed out in the low to mid 60s. A shift to southeasterly winds boosted highs in the upper 80s over western Iowa while the low to mid 80s were reported across the rest of Iowa.
Foggy conditions were observed at daybreak on Saturday, July 13, with unseasonably warm morning temperatures in the low 70s under generally clear skies. Gusty southerly winds built in through the day with temperatures from the mid 80s northeast to low 90s south and west. Spotty clouds developed in central to northeastern Iowa as a fast moving complex of thunderstorms, some severe, moved along the Iowa-Wisconsin border after sunset.
A secondary line moved over the same region with additional development in eastern Iowa into early Sunday. Several stations in northeastern Iowa observed rainfall with 0.50 inches in Dubuque (Dubuque County) and Elkader (Clayton County) to 0.98 inches at Guttenberg Lock and Dam (Clayton County). Weekly precipitation totals ranged from a trace at Spencer Municipal Airport (Clay County) to 2.56 inches in Lowden (Cedar County). The statewide weekly average precipitation was 0.70 inches, while the normal is 1.05 inches.
Little Sioux (Harrison County) reported the week’s high temperature of 94 degrees on July 13, eight degrees warmer than normal. Mapleton (Monona County) reported the week’s low temperature of 53 degrees on July 10, nine degrees cooler than normal.
