August: A Look Back

As we wrap up the 8th month of the year, it's time to take a look back at the month, weather wise!

August 2013 will go down as the 9th driest August in the Quad Cities, with only 0.76" of rain.  The rain came in two rounds; 0.27" on August 2nd, and 0.49" on August 5th (which was also the coolest day of the month, with a high of 74°).  A trace of rain was recorded on August 7th, but that does not qualify as "measurable" (a trace of rain is less than one hundredth of an inch of precipitation).  That puts as at -3.76" below avg!

The Quad Cities wasn't the only area with dry weather, many folks to the south also saw little, if any rain in August.  Burlington saw just a TRACE of rain, making August '13 the driest August ever!  Other areas seeing a trace or less of rain include (via National Weather Service QC): Mt. Pleasant, IA; Muscatine, IA; Ft. Madison, IA; Lone Tree, IA; New Boston, IL; Dallas City, IL.  The map below is from the Midwest Regional Climate Center showing areas in yellow-orange that saw less than 0.01" if rain in August.

 

Back in the metro area, the warmest maximum temperature was 98°, which occurred this past Friday, Aug. 30th!  The coolest minimum temperature was 47° on Aug. 14th.  

September 1st marks the first day of Meteorological Fall, which spells the end to the 3 hottest months of the year.  Fall is just 21 days away, beginning at 3:44pm on September 22nd (Autumnal Equinox).  Looking at the first 10 days of September, temperatures will be at or slightly above average.  As far as precipitation is concerned...still looking dry!  Get your 7 Day forecast online anytime at www.whbf.com/weather!

Drought Continues Heading Into April

It may be hard to believe that, even with the heavy rains and snow melt last weekend, that drought conditions still persist across eastern Iowa and northern Illinois.

The latest Drought Monitor report (3/12/2013) shows that eastern Iowa is still suffering from abnormally dry conditions and that parts of northwestern Illinois are still in a "moderate drought".

However, this is much better than just six months ago.  Check out this map from September 11, 2012.

The orange represents a "Severe Drought" and the red signifies an "Extreme Drought".

The drought situation has been helped by the above average rain and snow since December.  Between December 1, 2012, and March 14, 2013, the Quad Cities (the official totals from the Quad City International Airport) have picked up 10.29" of precipitation.  In that time period, 6.51" is average.

Since the ground is still pretty much frozen, most of the excess rain and melted snow is running off into area rivers, which is bringing up the river levels and causing some flooding.  As you recall, the drought caused exceptionally low river levels late last year.

What we really need is for some warmer weather to thaw the ground so the spring rains can soak in and replenish the water levels.

Here's NOAA's forecast for temperatures and precipitation for the March 22-28, 2013, period. 

The bad news is that temperatures are expected to remain below average, so the thawing of the ground will be a slower process.

Thank you for checking out the blog and have a great weekend.

Meteorologist Anthony Peoples