A heat wave, with temperatures up to 12 degrees above normal, enveloped the Pacific Northwest with abnormally dry conditions, said the weekly Drought Monitor. “Long-term drought remains in California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico as we move into the heat of summer,” said the Monitor, which said 84 percent of California was in drought.
In the Northwest, record high temperature “has resulted in early snowmelt, low stream flows, and increased evaporation leading to a push of (abnormally dry condition) across the remainder of Oregon, Washington and the Idaho Panhandle,” said the Monitor. Some 98 percent of Washington state was rated as abnormally dry, compared to 56 percent a week ago. In Oregon, 70 percent of the state was listed as abnormally dry and nearly 30 percent was in moderate drought.
Some 14 percent of Iowa, the No. 1 corn state, was abnormally dry, up from 11 percent last week. The dry area was in central and south-central Iowa. For the most part, the Midwest, the heart of corn and soybean production, has few blemishes of dryness. At the start of the week, USDA said 75 percent of the U.S. corn crop was in good or excellent condition; 72 percent of soybeans rated as good or excellent in the Crop Progress report.