For Iowa homeowners who haven't had to touch their lawnmowers most of the summer because of dry or drought conditions, the days of rain across many parts of the state are making the grass grow again.
The new drought monitor, out today, shows 35-percent of Iowa still in drought conditions, but rain is in the forecast, into the weekend, and that should help.
"Many of the areas where we are abnormally dry, or in moderate drought, will likely see a lot of improvement over the next couple of days." National Weather Service Meteorologist Alan Curtis tells WHO and WMT Radio News. "It is tough to pinpoint exactly how the extreme drought areas are going to react."
The U.S. Drought Monitor map (below) shows those extreme drought areas in deep red, in south central Iowa. Moderate Drought remains in several parts of the state, including much of the Des Moines metro area, and the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City area.
Curtis says getting soaking rain is important before the ground freezes for the winter.
"That's simply because, let's say we get some soaking rain for a couple of days in December, it's not going to help (with soil moisture), because it's all going to run off."