Ag Weather Forum

OMAHA (DTN) -- April 2013 will go down as an out-of-character month for being cold and wet. Both features have helped to give Western Corn Belt soils a fighting chance at recovery from last year's record drought.

In fact, the drought is over in part of Iowa. "For sure the southeast half could be considered drought-free," said Iowa state climatologist Harry Hillaker.

In Nebraska -- which was labeled as "ground zero" for much of the 2012 drought duration -- the grip of dryness is loosening. "I'm cautiously optimistic about drought improvement," said Nebraska state climatologist Al Dutcher. Dutcher cited southeastern Nebraska as having the most recovery; that portion of the state is in "moderate drought" or D1 in the Drought Monitor assessment of April 23, 2013.

Iowa weather data catalogued by Hillaker will likely show record precipitation for some stations during April 2013. Hillaker also said the April rain is not typical, especially in a year following drought.

"April has high odds for being below normal" for rain following a drought, Hillaker said. "The analogs say it shouldn't happen this month -- but it did."

April 2013 offered another surprising twist -- substantially below-normal temperatures, more typical of midwinter rather than mid-spring.

"It's definitely been a mighty cool April," Hillaker said. His records indicate that Iowa's April temperatures will finish in the top 10 or top 15 for coolest Aprils. This is in sharp contrast to a year ago. "We were record warm statewide last year," he said. "Our March-April combination temperatures will almost surely be in the top 10 for those two months being coolest. In 2012, that period was record warm, and this year we're 15 degrees cooler versus last year," Hillaker said.

The cold month of April has brought delays in getting spring crop field work started. However, Dutcher pointed out that the cold temperatures meant precipitation went into restocking soil moisture instead of being used up by growing plants.

"The entire water use balance has been shifted," Dutcher said. "We now have a two-week reprieve with this additional moisture. Crops will demand water starting in mid-May instead of early May. So, we continue to build the bank of moisture for rapid growth-stage needs in late May to early June."

Even with the heavy April precipitation, both climate experts say it's too soon to issue drought-free calls statewide.

In Iowa, "drought is not quite over," Harry Hillaker said. "In the northwest, the U.S. Geological Survey monitoring wells are still not showing a response yet."

And Nebraska's Al Dutcher believes it's premature to think about the potential for above-average yields in many areas. "We're still in D3 (extreme drought) in the primary irrigated areas," Dutcher said. "And, it's taken everything (cold April, heavy rain) to get the moisture to where it is."

Bryce Anderson can be reached at Bryce.anderson@telventdtn.com

(AG/CZ)

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