Monthly Weather Report

IOWA MONTHLY WEATHER SUMMARY – MARCH 2024

General Summary

Temperatures averaged 40.7 degrees or 4.3 degrees above normal while precipitation totaled 2.44 inches, 0.45 inch above normal. March 2024 ranks as the 20th warmest and 44th wettest in 152 years of statewide observational records. A warmer March occurred in 2021 while March 2022 was wetter.

Temperatures

Warmer than average temperatures blanketed Iowa through March, as a continuation of consecutive unseasonably warm months that began in August 2023. Stations in eastern Iowa reported the warmest monthly temperatures with positive departures approaching six degrees. Donnellson (Lee County), Mount Pleasant (Henry County) and Muscatine (Muscatine County) reported the month’s high temperature of 81 degrees on the 3rd, on average 37 degrees above average. Several stations reported the month’s low temperature of nine degrees on multiple dates, on average 14 degrees below normal.

Heating Degree Days

Home heating requirements, estimated by heating degree day totals, averaged 22% less than last March and 16% less than normal. Heating degree day totals are running 15% less than last year at this time and 17% less than normal.

Precipitation

During March, most weather stations in western Iowa and in the eastern one-quarter of Iowa reported between 150-200 percent of normal precipitation, much of which fell during the final half of March. Only stations in south-central and northeastern Iowa experienced below-normal precipitation. Monthly precipitation totals ranged from 0.54 inch at a Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow (CoCoRaHS) network gauge in Grinnell (Poweshiek County) to 6.27 inches in Augusta (Des Moines County). Statewide snowfall was below normal with an average of 1.9 inches, 2.8 inches below normal.

US Drought Monitor

The US Drought Monitor showed a one-category improvement across much of Iowa, particularly over the state’s northwest half through March. Overall, Iowa experienced a nine percent reduction in D1 (Moderate Drought) to D3 (Extreme Drought) conditions with a one percent increase in D0 (Abnormal Dryness). As of the first week of April, the area designated as D3 stands at 12% of the state, while D2 (Severe Drought) covers 22% of Iowa, down from 36% at the beginning of March; D1 now covers about 23% of the state, a reduction of 14%. Finally, 10% of Iowa is free from drought. According to the Iowa Drought Plan (IDP) trigger tables, Drought Regions 3, 4 and 5 are classified in a “Watch” though all five regions are showing improvement.

Justin Glisan, Ph.D.
State Climatologist of Iowa
Iowa Dept. of Agriculture & Land Stewardship
Wallace State Office Bldg.
Des Moines, IA 50319
Telephone: (515) 281-8981
E-mail: Justin.Glisan@IowaAgriculture.gov

WEATHER BY DISTRICTS