Heavy rainfall last week eliminated the remaining pocket of drought in Iowa, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report.
It’s the first time in nearly four years that none of the state is experiencing drought and marks a significant turnaround from September, when Iowa was drier than it had been in a decade.
83% of the state had drought at the start of the year, and more than a third of Iowa had “extreme” drought — the second-to-worst classification of the Drought Monitor.
Since then, the state has had its sixth-wettest start to a year on record, according to Iowa State University data. There has been an average 17 inches of rain statewide — more than 40% greater than normal. Nearly half of that happened in May.
That helped end the state’s longest drought in about 70 years.