OSKALOOSA —
The drought map for Iowa was virtually unchanged over the past week, a pause in what has been an up and down few weeks.
August saw the first significant rains in some time, pushing the drought into retreat. But September has returned to largely dry weather and drought conditions have worsened again. The U.S. Drought Monitor's map for the week up to September 18 shows almost no change, though.
The entire state is under severe drought conditions, and most areas go beyond that into extreme drought. But the shift this past week was an increase in extreme drought of only 0.14 percent of Iowa's area. And the northwestern corner of the state, a sliver of which is under exceptional drought conditions, is entirely unchanged.
The drought's impacts are being seen in the state's harvest. Corn harvesting is well ahead of average and is pushing records. The hot, dry summer badly hurt the crop. Soybeans have fared somewhat better, though that crop is also ahead of normal paces.
Southeast Iowa's drought situation remains unchanged. Most of the area around Ottumwa and Centerville is in extreme drought, while Marion and Mahaska counties remain largely in the severe drought category.
CNHI/Southeast Iowa
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Iowa drought situation unchanged
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