WHO STOPPED THE RAIN?

It's been feast or famine with rain this July. You either get missed by pop-up storms or you get caught in a downpour that produces two inches an hour. Here's an example... look at the rainfall from Sunday -

In general though we've been behind on rain for July - typically one of the rainiest months of the year.Cedar Rapids is behind on rainfall by over an inch. Iowa City is behind by over two and a half. Moline is behind by nearly two inches. And here's a look at the last week -

The dry weather was welcomed for a while after the rainy two months we had in May and June. It did help dry out the soil.. check out the soil moisture change over the last month -

Now we could use some rain... Unfortunately, the next week is not going to be very exciting. High pressure will by and large be in control and rain chances will be low across the Upper Midwest.

Here's a look at the actual precipitation totals on the European model through the next six days:

The pattern looks to pick up some as we head into August. August is still a rainy month - still part of our rainy season averaging around 4-5 inches in the Upper Midwest. Here's a look at the average monthly precipitation -

Rainfall totals begin to drop off as we head into fall and moisture levels aren't typically as high. Hopefully we can get some good rains in before then...

RK