According to today's Drought Monitor report of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in the Midwest, widespread heavy rainfall accumulations ranging from 2 to 6+ inches impacted northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin over the weekend—erasing some of the short-term precipitation deficits. Elsewhere in the region, a combination of short and longer-term precipitation deficits in Iowa led to degradation on the map, with rainfall deficits during the past 90-day period ranging from 4 to 8+ inches in southern Iowa.
For the week, light rainfall (1 to 2+ inches) accumulations were observed across much of the region with some heavy rainfall (3 to 6+ inches) amounts across southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
On the map, some minor improvements were made in areas of Abnormally Dry (D0) in northern portions of Indiana and Illinois, while degradations occurred in Iowa and Minnesota.
In Iowa, precipitation has been below normal during the past 90-day period, with anomalously dry topsoil conditions showing up on the latest NASA SPoRT soil moisture percentile rankings maps. Moreover, numerous rivers and creeks were showing below-normal flows across the state, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
According to reports from the Iowa State University Extension, the rainfall shortfalls in southern Iowa were likely to reduce yields for soybeans while corn test weights were lower. Average temperatures for the week were above normal (ranging from 1 to 4 deg F) across much of the region.
For the full USDA report for Sept. 15, click here.