Despite some snow and rain storms, March will continue a string of drier than normal months for Iowa. State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says Iowa had an average of one-point-18 inches of precipitation — about one inch below normal. Hillaker says it’s the fifth-straight month of below normal precipitation, and a bit of a disappointment as he expected a wetter month. He says only a few areas saw near-normal precipitation.Places like Spencer and Rock Rapids up in the far northwest part of the state saw more moisture than the south part of the state, which has been drier than normal for nine months. Hillaker says March was a little cooler,too.He says things started cold, got warmer in the middle, and ended up about a degree colder than normal. Hillaker says April showers could help us catch up on some of the moisture we’ve missed thus far. He says we normally get three and a quarter inches of rainfall in April, which he says would put us in good shape heading into the growing season. Hillaker says the April rains will likely bring some turbulent weather with them.He says May and June are the biggest months for severe weather, but April is usually pretty active, too. Hillaker says the short-term forecasts are calling for a warm start to April.