Iowa's News Now reports that 15% of Iowa is under a severe drought, with most of the state facing dry to moderate drought conditions.

Farmers in Central and Eastern Iowa have just been dealt a double blow with the August 10 Derecho, and farms in the west central area are also facing "severe" drought according to the National Weather Service.

The DNR expects a busy Labor Day weekend at Iowa's open state parks. With drought conditions this bad there are fears of potential fire hazards with so much dry brush. The recent Derecho winds and thunderstorms that toppled hundreds of trees and severed thousands of branches has created a dangerous amount of dry kindling that could easily ignite and quickly spread.

One of the worst droughts in American history happened during the Great Depression in 1936. Iowa also suffered terrible droughts in 1988 and again in 2012. According to the Gazette archives from 2012 the high summer temperatures make droughts worse and droughts in return "makes heat hotter".

According to the Drought Monitor map of Iowa, a stretch of super scorched farm land extends from Council Bluffs east to Des Moines, and north to Ft. Dodge, affecting over a dozen counties in west central Iowa.

The weather forecast is calling for some rainfall in Eastern Iowa over the next several days but how much precipitation will fall is uncertain.

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