Another HEAT WAVE for the Corn Belt
Jul 21, 2015
Here we go again, the 2nd major heat-wave of July is on tap for this weekend across the Corn Belt. This one looks to last about 4-5 days with high temperatures once again in the middle to high 90s starting this weekend. In the Iowa area it will be a wholesale change from the past couple years (very cool) with the 3rd hottest end to July in over 25 years. Chart below shows max temperatures for Central Iowa 24-28 July.
The 14-day forecast for Des Moines as an example shows a 10-day stretch of above average temperatures.
July overall will trend 4.1F hotter than last year's very cool July in Des Moines, 0.6F above average, Growing Degree Days (GDD) up a whopping 18% over last year but that also means the AC bills will be up 40% or more vs last year too!The wt360 Calendar summary page shows all the details.
The Corn Belt as a whole is also pretty toasty the 24th-29th trending the 2nd hottest end to July in 25 years, 5F above average and 9F warmer than last year.
The 2-week trends show the next 7 days will trend the warmest in 3 years for the U.S. overall and driest in 25 years. Week 2 shows a continuation of the heat but much wetter with the wettest conditions for the U.S. in over 25 years.
Once again we can see the area of Northwest Iowa, Southern Minnesota missing out on the heavier rain which will allow soil moisture levels (4-16" depth) to continue drying out. Notice the 15% to 20% levels in that region - getting too dry, especially with the heat. It remains too wet in parts of Missouri.
With our free 14 and 30-day outlooks (www.wt360ag.com) you can see metrics that aren't available from other sources like monthly total growing degree days, soil moisture forecasts for 3 levels, soil temperature forecasts, etc. If there are specific questions we can address for you, don't hesitate to call on Capt Kirk (Bill) at 610-807-0118. We already know what most of 2016 will do - a major drought and possibly $7 corn is in the cards - so happy to help. As General Schwarzkopf told me 25 years ago, “we need to be PROACTIVE with longer term weather trends, not REACTIVE…give me an answer not a hedge!”
-Capt Kirk out.