Those who haven’t left Iowa for a spring break might be wishing they had. State Climatologist, Harry Hillaker, says there’s a drastic difference in temperatures this year compared to March of last year.
“We had a very, very early start to spring, and already had temperatures in the 80’s several times by this date, and so this year has been quite a contrast,” Hillaker says. “But for the most part, given that we’re trying to come out of a drought, it’s much better to be in this cool pattern than what we had last year. The very early start to spring was quite a negative as far as drought impacts go.”
Hillaker says normal temperatures for this time of year would see the highs at 47 degrees and the overnight lows at 24 degrees with a half a degree increase each day. The state has had more precipitation this spring.
Hillaker says the added precipitation is good news, but he says with the ground still frozen, the added moisture won’t help out the soil moisture shortage. And the cooler conditions are expected to stick around for awhile.
“Basically, we’re not looking at any great warmup anytime soon,” according to Hillaker. He says the temperatures for the rest of the week aren’t expected to get beyond the mid to upper 30’s. Hillaker says next week’s outlook shows below normal temperatures as well.
By Dennis Morrice, KLEM LeMars