Rain moving into drought-stricken parts of Iowa; more than 1 inch possible for Des Moines
Rain, rain come this way.
Drought-stricken areas of southern and central Iowa could get about 2 inches of rain or more Monday and Tuesday. By 7 a.m. Monday rain had already moved into parched parts of western Iowa and it's expected to spread east throughout the day, according to the National Weather Service in Des Moines.
Southwest Iowa will see the most rain, the weather service predicted, with up to 4 inches possible in Ringgold County. Des Moines, where the Iowa State Fair runs through Sunday, could see about 1.5 inches.
🌧️⛈️IT GON RAIN!⛈️🌧️
Some much needed rainfall is moving into western Iowa this morning and will slowly spread eastward through the day.
Roughly the southwest half of the state may see amounts of a half inch or greater. #iawx pic.twitter.com/5z1utdihkB— NWS Des Moines (@NWSDesMoines) August 15, 2022
Chances of severe weather from the system are small, NWS said.
Rain returns tonight! Widespread 1-2" expected across the area with locally higher amounts possible for some locations. pic.twitter.com/66G7vKl1Ob
— NWS Kansas City (@NWSKansasCity) August 15, 2022
Northwest Iowa counties Plymouth, Sioux, Cherokee and Woodbury, all in extreme drought conditions according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, were among the first in Iowa to get rainfall Monday morning.
Moderate to extreme drought grew last week in Iowa and covered nearly 40% of the state, up from 31% the week before, according to the USDA's Drought Monitor report; which is issued every Thursday.
The drought worsened from moderate to severe in much of southern Iowa and part of the Des Moines metro area. Thunderstorms Aug. 6 and 7 brought rain to many parts of western and north-central Iowa, but largely missed areas that needed rain the most.
As the drought worsened this summer Iowa's corn harvest is expected to decline 1.6% or 41 million bushels this year over 2021 — but farmers have planted 200,000 fewer acres to the crop this year, according to the USDA.
Iowa is forecast to remain the nation's second-largest soybean producer, harvesting nearly 592.8 million bushels this fall, which is 29.1 million fewer bushels than 2021, according to the USDA.
More: Iowa drought growing worse, cutting into the state's projected soybean harvest, new report shows
Philip Joens covers public safety, city government and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-443-3347 at pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: More than an inch of rain forecast for Des Moines Monday and Tuesday
