Drought in Iowa, August 14 to 31, 2000

The entire summer was nip and tuck with precipitation because of the dry conditions that were in place during the beginning of the growing season. Timely rainfall during the end of May into the first part of July helped the states crops get off to a good start. Warmer than normal temperatures set in during the month of August, while at the same time rainfall tapered off. Crops were under stress through most of the month. Soil moisture was quite lacking during the last half of the month. The final few days of August brought very warm to hot conditions to the state as temperatures soared into the mid 90s to low 100s. Fortunately, dew point temperatures held in the 70s for the most part, reducing crop stress. The down side of the high dew point temperatures was the increased stress on livestock. Even the effects of water application were reduced by the high humidity. By the end of the month, some livestock succumbed to the heat and the states row crops were damaged over the south half of the state. By the end of the month, agricultural damage was somewhere in the area of $150,000,000 statewide.