Iowa Weekly Weather Report, Aug 14, 2016

Dry weather prevailed across the state through Wednesday morning. Thunderstorms began developing Wednesday afternoon and continued increasing in coverage Wednesday night into Thursday. The heaviest rains came Thursday night into Friday morning when rain totals of three to five inches were common over large areas of central and east central Iowa, as well as over the far southwest corner of the state. Most of the weekend was dry excepting some isolated showers and thunderstorms in central Iowa Saturday night.

Weekly rain totals varied from 0.62 inches at Dorchester in far northeast Iowa to 7.14 inches at Swisher in Johnson County. There was a statewide average of 2.20 inches of rain, or more than double the normal for the week of 0.98 inches. The past reporting week began mild with daytime highs mostly near 80 degrees on Monday while Estherville reported the lowest temperature of the week with a Monday morning minimum of 52 degrees. However, heat and humidity quickly returned on Tuesday with the hottest weather prevailing on Wednesday and Thursday. Heat indices peaked at 110 degrees at Shenandoah on Wednesday and 113 at Mount Pleasant on Thursday. Actual air temperatures maxed out at 96 degrees at Sioux City on Wednesday and 97 at Lamoni on Thursday. Seasonal temperatures and humidity returned for the weekend. Temperatures for the week as a whole averaged 2.5 degrees above normal.

Source:  Harry Hillaker, State Climatologist, Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship