Drought conditions with little precipitation

Cool trend also continues this week

REGIONAL -- Areas of western Iowa are lacking rain in what has been an uncharacteristically dry summer season.
    “It’s a pretty typical year until you get into June and July, where the rainfall numbers really started to go downhill,” said Iowa’s State Climatologist Harry Hillaker.
    The state of Iowa often relies on heavy, wide-spread rainfalls that cover up to 10 or 12 counties and at times, in bigger systems, up to 1/3 or 1/2 of the state.
    Instead, this season has seen smaller storms and more isolated events.
    “Over time, some places eventually get hit two or three times and get a pretty good total [amount of precipitation,]” Hillaker said. “Others just get missed. So you start seeing pretty wide disparities from one place to another.”
    This has been true for July. In Harlan, the automated weather tracker at the airport has reported a total of 1.19 inches – three inches short of the typical annual average, 4.17 inches.
 

 
 

 

Harlan Newspapers

1114 7th Street
P.O. Box 721
Harlan, IA 51537-0721

(800) 909-6397
news2@harlanonline.com

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