Weekly Iowa Weather Update, July 24, 2016

It was a hot, humid, and wet week across Iowa. Temperatures were above normal throughout the week with the hottest weather from Wednesday through Saturday when heat indices exceeded 110 degrees somewhere in the state each day. Actual temperatures during the week varied from a Monday morning low of 55 degrees at Algona to a Wednesday afternoon high of 97 degrees at Sioux City and Thursday highs of 97 at Des Moines, Lamoni, and Sioux City. Temperatures for the week as a whole averaged 5.2 degrees above normal. Heat indices reached a maximum of 119 degrees at Shenandoah on Thursday.

Thunderstorms brought rain to the south one-half of the state from Sunday night into Monday morning with very heavy rains in parts of southwest Iowa. Rain fell nearly statewide on Tuesday with locally heavy rain falling across central Iowa. Wednesday brought rain to extreme eastern and far northwestern Iowa. Another round of thunderstorms brought rain to the eastern one-third of the state on Thursday night into Friday morning. Finally, one last event brought rain to about the north one-half of the state on Saturday morning with locally heavy rain in far northeast Iowa.

Weekly rain totals varied from only 0.15 inches at Akron on the South Dakota border to 6.19 inches at Bedford and 6.60 inches between Ankeny and Des Moines. The statewide average precipitation was 2.09 inches or more than double the normal of 0.98 inches. This was the third consecutive week of much above normal rainfall.

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