Some relief is coming now, but October was a remarkably dry month across most of the US.
As shown on the map below, almost the entire country saw anywhere from 0-25% of normal precipitation during the month, speeding along the corn and soybean harvests but also rapidly depleting soil moisture ahead of the winter.
According to this week’s USDA weather and crop bulletin, dozens of climate stations across the central and eastern US reported either zero precipitation or a trace of rain during the first 28 days of October. Across the central Plains and upper Midwest, Oct. 1-28 precipitation totaled 0.01 inch and was more than 2 inches below normal in locations such as Sioux Falls, SD, and Norfolk, NE. During the same period, Sioux City, IA, received only a trace, more than 2 inches below normal.
The almost completely dry October also came on the heels of an arid September in some locations. State precipitation rankings indicated that it was the driest September on record in Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa, with respective statewide averages of 0.31, 0.55, and 0.72 inches. The previous record in Nebraska, 0.42 inch, had been set in 1899. Minnesota’s previous record of 0.61 inch had been set in 1952 and tied in 2012. Iowa’s driest September had been set in 1939, with 0.84 inch.
As of Oct. 29, an estimated 81% of US corn production and 73% of soybean production was being impacted by drought, up from 76% and 68% the previous week and well above 36% and 38% a year earlier. Meanwhile, 62% of national winter wheat production was impacted by drought as of Oct. 29, up 4 points from a week earlier and 20 points above a year earlier.
However, things should improve with significant rainfall expected to continue through the weekend and into early next week for portions of the US, including parts of the central Plains and the Midwest.
