Drought — Chickasaw, Iowa

2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 · Chickasaw, Iowa

Event narrative

Extreme (D3) drought persisted across Chickasaw County through January. While 1 to 1.5 of monthly total liquid precipitation was slightly above normal, the long-standing abnormally dry conditions, 8 to 12 below normal since June 1st, 2023, resulted in extreme (D3) drought persisting.

Wider weather episode

Long-standing abnormally dry conditions from April 2023 through January 2024 resulted in no changes to severe (D2) and extreme (D3) drought for northeast Iowa in January. From initial severe drought (D2) issuance in June 2023 to the onset of January 2024, 10 to 20 of total rainfall was 8 to 14 below normal. Multiple storms grazed northeast Iowa counties and resulted in highly variable monthly precipitation totals. Highest monthly snowfall totals near 40 with a liquid equivalent of 4 fell along the Mississippi River and were 2 above normal. Lowest monthly snowfall totals of 5 to 10 and total liquid equivalent of 0.5 to 1.5 were near to below normal in counties west of the Mississippi River. Besides one week of well below normal temperatures, overall monthly temperatures were well above normal, including multiple days of 10 degrees or more above normal. These warm conditions quickly melted the snowpack and perpetuated ongoing soil moisture concerns.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1157286. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.