Quad City Area Now In Moderate Drought - KWQC-TV6 News and Weather For The Quad Cities -

The Quad City Office of the National Weather Service has released updated information on soil moisture and confirms that most of the Quad Cities is under what is considered a moderate drought. 

Abnormally dry conditions began in June, and hot weather in recent weeks is quickly replenishing what little moisture is left. Southwest Hancock County, Illinois is now experiencing severe drought.

Below is the full report from the NWS:

MODERATE TO SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS EXIST ACROSS MUCH OF THE

MIDWEST INCLUDING LARGE PARTS OF IOWA AND VIRTUALLY ALL OF

ILLINOIS AND MISSOURI. THE DRYNESS IS NOT YET AS EXTREME FURTHER

NORTH IN MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN.

THE COMBINATION OF RAINFALL DEFICITS WHICH HAVE BEEN SLOWLY

ACCRUING SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR AND ESPECIALLY IN JUNE...

PLUS HOT WEATHER WITH OCCASIONAL READINGS OF 100 DEGREES OR MORE

ARE STRESSING AGRICULTURAL AND HORTICULTURAL CROPS.

LOCAL AREA AFFECTED...

MOST OF EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST IOWA...MOST OF NORTHWEST AND

WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS...ALL OF EXTREME NORTHEAST MISSOURI.

SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...

STATE/LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACTIONS.

MISSOURI - STATE HAS BANNED OPEN FIRES AT STATE PARKS.

SOIL MOISTURE CONDITIONS.

SOIL MOISTURE SUPPLIES ARE BELOW NORMAL ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA.

ACROSS TO USDA NASS REPORTS... IN NORTHWEST ILLINOIS...BOTH

TOPSOIL AND SUBSOIL MOISTURE ARE RATED 67-74% SHORT OR VERY

SHORT...94 AND 97% IN WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS.  IN IOWA...THE

SOUTHEAST REPORTS ABOUT 70% OF BOTH TOP AND SUBSOIL MOISTURE AS

SHORT OR VERY SHORT...AND IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA ABOUT 80%.

AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS.

CONDITIONS OF PASTURES...CORN AND SOYBEANS ARE BEING AFFECTED BY

THE DROUGHT. MODERATE DROUGHT SUGGESTS THERE IS ALREADY SOME

NEGATIVE YIELD IMPACT...BUT CORN IS BEGINNING TO ENTER ITS

POLLINATION STAGE WHEN A LACK OF MOISTURE AND EXTREME HEAT CAN

CAUSE SERIOUS IMPACTS TO YIELD.

RIVER AND STREAM FLOW CONDITIONS.

TRIBUTARY RIVERS AND CREEKS IN EASTERN IOWA AND NORTHWEST AND WEST

CENTRAL ILLINOIS ARE RUNNING BELOW TO MUCH BELOW NORMAL. IN

CONTRAST...THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER IS RUNNING NEAR NORMAL AS A

RESULT OF RAINFALL WELL UPSTREAM IN MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN.

GROUND WATER IMPACTS.

GROUND WATER OBSERVATIONS NEAR IOWA CITY ARE REPORTED NEAR NORMAL.

IN ILLINOIS...A REPORT FROM NEAR WALNUT ILLINOIS IS BELOW NORMAL.

FIRE DANGER IMPACTS.

INCREASED FIRE DANGER IS POSSIBLE IN AND AROUND NORTHEAST

MISSOURI WHERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS ARE REPORTED AS SEVERE. 

OTHERWISE...THE OCCURRENCE OF HIGH TEMPERATURES...LOW RELATIVE

HUMIDITY AND STRONG WINDS ON ANY DAY COULD CAUSE THE FIRE DANGER

THREAT TO WORSEN QUICKLY ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA.

CLIMATE SUMMARY.

IN GENERAL...JUNE RAINFALL TOTALED ONLY 25-50% OF NORMAL ACROSS THE

AREA. YEAR TO DATE PRECIPITATION IS ONLY AT 50-75% OF NORMAL.

PRECIPITATION VALUES BELOW ARE IN THIS ORDER...

ACTUAL...NORMAL...DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL

BURLINGTON  

YEAR TO DATE 13.03...19.45...-6.42

JUNE TOTAL    2.35...4.47...-2.12

CEDAR RAPIDS

YEAR TO DATE 10.72...17.13...-6.41

JUNE TOTAL    1.28...4.92...-3.64

DAVENPORT

YEAR TO DATE 15.23...17.52...-2.29

JUNE TOTAL    1.58...4.19...-2.61

DUBUQUE

YEAR TO DATE 12.28...17.94...-5.66

JUNE TOTAL    1.42...4.40...-2.98

IOWA CITY

YEAR TO DATE 13.07...17.60...-4.53

JUNE TOTAL    1.73...4.61...-2.88

MOLINE-QUAD CITIES

YEAR TO DATE 14.68...19.11...-4.43

JUNE TOTAL    1.52...4.49...-2.97

PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK.

THERE IS A LOW CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AS A FRONT MOVES INTO THE

AREA THROUGH THE WEEKEND. HEAT WILL CONTINUE FOR ANOTHER DAY...

THEN TEMPERATURES WILL MODERATE WITH HIGHS IN THE 80S NEXT WEEK.

FOR WEEK TWO...JULY 13-19...PROBABILITIES FAVOR WARMER AND DRIER

THAN NORMAL WEATHER.

LIKEWISE...THE OUTLOOK FOR JULY INDICATES A MUCH HIGHER THAN

NORMAL PROBABILITIY FOR WARMER AND A SLIGHTLY HIGHER CHANCE FOR 

DRIER THAN NORMAL WEATHER.

HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOK.

WITHOUT ADDITIONAL RAINFALL IN THE NEXT WEEK...TRIBUTARY RIVER

LEVELS WILL CONTINUE TO FALL. THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER HAS CRESTED

DUE TO UPSTREAM RAINFALL AND WILL FALL THROUGH NEXT WEEK.