While the derecho has, deservedly so, gotten a lot of attention these past two weeks, another "d" word is having a tremendous impact in the state. That being the ongoing drought. The updated US Drought Monitor depiction for Iowa this week continued the deteriorating condition for almost all parts of the state. One metric that indicates the lack of significant rainfall this year is to total up the number of Flood Warnings issued by NWS Des Moines as shown by the featured chart. This year's total is only slightly higher than three previous years plotted and the last major drought year of 2012 certainly sticks out. The forecast is not optimistic for meaningful rainfall with a return of very hot temperatures next week.

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