Weekly Iowa Weather Report

The 4th of July holiday week was relatively calm compared to the previous few weeks. Much of Iowa was able to dry out from last week’s widespread thunderstorm activity; a majority of the state saw below normal accumulations, from a few tenths to a little over an inch.

On the other hand, Iowa’s northwest corner saw more rainfall, generally on the order of one to two inches above normal.  On Monday only a handful of stations from Plymouth to Kossuth Counties recorded measurable rainfall, with Swea City observing 0.89 inches.

The state was dry heading into Independence Day, though a cold front propagated through Iowa’s northern third during Wednesday afternoon. The full system moved through overnight into Thursday, bringing near normal temperatures and lower humidity. Pocahontas recorded 2.90 inches of rain from the frontal passage, which was the week’s highest rainfall accumulation and 2.74 inches above normal. There were also multiple reports of severe straight-line winds from Shelby County to Winnebago County, with a 61-mph gust in Lake Mills.

Thursday through Sunday saw nearly dry and sunny conditions reigning over the state. This pattern was attributed to a large high pressure system moving through Minnesota into the Great Lakes region. On Friday a few counties in southeast and northwest Iowa observed measurable rain from isolated thunderstorms; Washta, in Cherokee County, reported 1.50 inches.

Over the weekend, average highs ranged from the low-to-mid 80s across the north and mid-to-upper 80s in the south. The week’s high temperature was 97 degrees and was observed in De Soto on Wednesday and Lamoni on Thursday. Sheldon, in O’Brien County, reported the week’s low temperature of 49 degrees on Saturday (7th). This reading was 10 degrees below average.

Source:  Dr. Justin Glisan, State Climatologist, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship