DROUGHT BEGETS DROUGHT...

The saying 'Drought begets drought' has rung true in the Midwest this year. The reason why it happens is because when the ground and soil dries out that will limit the supply of moisture in the atmosphere. It leads to a cycle of lower moisture levels and low rainfall chances.

Here is the latest Drought Monitor in the Midwest:

And Iowa:

An example has come just this weekend. Take a look at the precipitation totals from Friday morning to Saturday morning:

Some areas got nothing and the places that got rain didn't get anything incredibly beneficial. Nothing's really coming down the pike either. There may be a few showers around on Sunday, but nothing substaintial:

And outside of that small chance on Sunday, there's no really chance for rain over the next four to five days.. here's the preciptiation through Wednesday:

The Climate Prediction Center has some promising news of above normal precipitation chances during the second week of October:

The pattern does look to turn a bit more active as we head into the end of this week and beginning of next with a cut off low pressure system in the southern U.S. and a developing trough out to the west:

Hopefully we get some rain out of this but it likely won't solve the drought. We'll have to hope for better luck in the spring...

RK