Weekly Iowa Weather Summary, August 7, 2016

Very warm and humid weather prevailed from Monday through Thursday. The hottest weather was on Thursday when actual temperatures peaked at 96 degrees at Lamoni while the heat index reached 111 degrees at Newton, Perry and Shenandoah. Drier and cooler weather finished out the week with Sheldon and Spencer recording Saturday morning lows of 50 degrees. Temperatures for the week as a whole averaged 0.7 degrees above normal although much of far southern Iowa averaged a little cooler than usual thanks to heavier rainfall in that area.

Showers and thunderstorms were widespread over about the southwest one-half of Iowa on both Monday morning and Tuesday morning. Heavy rains of two to four inches were common from Carroll County to Ringgold County on Monday with one to three inch amounts common from near Knoxville south to Centerville and Bloomfield on Tuesday. The most widespread rains of the week came on Thursday and Thursday night with rain falling over most of the southeast three-fourths of the state. High winds accompanied the Thursday storms over parts of central and northeastern Iowa. Weekly rain totals varied from only sprinkles at Swea City and Estherville to 4.83 inches at Mount Ayr and 4.68 inches at Creston. The statewide average precipitation was 1.25 inches while normal for the week is 0.96 inches.

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