Farmers can expect the recent wave of hot and dry weather to continue through the coming week.
According to USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey, most of Iowa will experience temperatures in the upper 80s and lower 90s for the next several days.
?We?ve got a big change coming,? said Rippey. ?We recently had some frost in some (Iowa) counties, especially in the north, but now there?s a change coming. We?ve got hotter and drier weather moving in across the Northern Plains and the Upper Midwest. It?s not going to hit triple digits in Iowa, but in the nearby Dakotas when this heatwave peaks we could see temperatures at or above 100 degrees. Certainly, getting into the 90s will be something we?ll have to deal with as this week moves on through.?
Rippey adds it?s currently a good time of the year to have some heat.
?You don?t have to worry about reproductive corn yet, so if we have to get in the 90s, let?s get it out of the way early,? said Rippey. ?It?s good for crop development. We will have to watch though that there are some dry conditions lingering across the north. There?s not a lot of subsoil moisture reserves and it will take a shorter than normal period to get in trouble if it were to stay hot and dry. Right now, I don?t see that happening beyond this week, but there are some concerns that limited subsoil moisture could be a problem later in the season, especially in northwest and generally northern Iowa.?
The most recent U.S. Drought Monitor once again shows a large pocket D2 Severe Drought in far northwest Iowa. Central, north central and northeast Iowa remain placed under D1 Moderate Drought in the weekly report.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor can be viewed here.
