La Crosse, WI

Weather Forecast Office

No Changes in the Drought

Summary
River and Stream Flow
Agricultural Impacts
Fire Hazards
Precip & Temp Outlooks
Questions?

No Changes in the Drought

Updated on Thursday, April 18, 2024
Next Scheduled Update: Thursday, April 25, 2024

Summary:

From April 9 through April 16, precipitation totals ranged from trace of precipitation to 1.63" at the Prestone Fillmore County Airport (Fillmore County). Normally, around 1" of precipitation falls during this period. These precipitation totals were not high enough to cause any improvements in the drought.

From April 1, 2023, through April 16, 2024 (long-term dryness), precipitation departures range from 9 to 19.25" below normal south of Interstate 90. The driest area is in northeast Iowa where precipitation deficits range from 13.42" near Ionia, IA (Chickasaw County) to 19.25" at Charles City, IA (Floyd County). Due to these deficits, abnormally dry (D0) to extreme (D3) drought linger in these areas. Meanwhile, along and north of Interstate 90, it remains abnormally dry (D0).

Modernized Drought Information Statement (DGT) can be found here.

Note: The impacts of any precipitation that fell after 7 AM Tuesday, April 16 will be evaluated next week.

U.S. Drought Monitor Summary:

In the April 16 release of the U.S. Drought Monitor, abnormally dry (D0) to extreme (D3) drought continued across Iowa. The drought is the worst in the eastern part of the state.

Abnormally dry (D0) to severe (D2) drought continues in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Note: The data cutoff for Drought Monitor maps is Tuesday at 7 a.m. Central Daylight Time.

State Drought Statistics


Iowa	Minnesota	Wisconsin

Local Area Affected:

Extreme (D3) Drought in all or parts of:

Northeast Iowa: Chickasaw and Floyd counties.

Severe (D2) to Extreme (D3) Drought in all or parts of:

Northeast Iowa: Fayette, Howard, and Mitchell counties.

Severe (D2) Drought in all or parts of:

Northeast Iowa: Winneshiek County.

Moderate (D1) to Severe (D2) Drought in all or parts of:

Northeast Iowa: Allamakee and Clayton counties.
Southeast Minnesota: Filmore, Houston, and Mower counties.
Western Wisconsin: Crawford, Richland, and Vernon counties.

Abnormally Dry (D0) to Severe (D2) Drought in all or parts of:

Western Wisconsin: Adams, Grant, and Juneau counties.

Abnormally Dry (D0) to Moderate (D1) Drought in all or parts of:

Western Wisconsin: La Crosse and Monroe counties.

Abnormally Dry (D0) in all or parts of:

Southeast Minnesota: Dodge, Olmsted, Wabasha, and Winona counties.
Western Wisconsin: Buffalo, Clark, Jackson, Taylor, and Trempealeau counties.

State/Local Government Actions:

There is a Drought Watch for Region 3 in northeast Iowa. For more information, see the Iowa Drought Plan.

No known actions are taking place in southeast Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Climatological Summary:

Precipitation Departures from
April 1, 2023, through April 16, 2024:

The largest deficits (9 to 19.25") were located south of Interstate 90.
Due to these deficits abnormally dry (D0) to extreme (D3) drought lingers south of Interstate 90.

Precipitation Totals & Deficits from April 1, 2023 through April 16, 2024
Location	County	Precipitation	Deficit
Charles City, IA	Floyd	20.22"	19.25"
Nashua 2 SW, IA	Floyd	21.26"	18.61"
Fayette, IA	Fayette	23.47"	18.02"
Gays Mills, WI	Crawford	22.03"	17.59"
St. Ansgar, IA	Mitchell	24.14"	16.15"
New Hampton, IA	Chickasaw	26.59"	16.05"
Genoa Dam 8, WI	Vernon	24.38"	15.94"
Oelwein 1E, IA	Fayette	21.16"	15.93"
Elkader 6 SSW, IA	Clayton	25.18"	15.58"
Prairie du Chien, WI	Crawford	24.54"	15.19"
Viroqua, WI	Vernon	25.81"	14.13"
Guttenberg, IA	Clayton	25.18"	13.89"
Ionia 2W, IA	Chickasaw	25.35"	13.42"
Steuben 4 SE, WI	Crawford	26.19"	13.20"
Boscobel, WI	Grant	23.43"	12.26"
Lynxville Dam 9, WI	Crawford	26.21"	12.11"
Hillsboro 2 SW, WI	Vernon	28.78"	9.21"

The U.S. Drought Monitor is a weekly collaborative effort between several federal agencies including NOAA/NWS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Drought Mitigation Center. Details and explanations of the Drought Monitor can be found at:

U.S. Drought Monitor

The categories of drought are defined as follows:

Abnormally Dry (D0) - Going into drought: short-term dryness slowing planting, growth of crops or pastures; fire risk above average. Coming out of drought: some lingering water deficits; pastures or crops not fully recovered.

Moderate Drought (D1) - Some damage to crops and pastures; fire risk high; streams, reservoirs, or wells low, some water shortages developing or imminent, voluntary water use restrictions requested.

Severe Drought (D2) - Crop or pasture losses likely; fire risk very high; water shortages common; water restrictions imposed.

Extreme Drought (D3) - Major crop/pasture losses; extreme fire danger; widespread water shortages or restrictions.

Exceptional Drought (D4) - Exceptional and widespread crop/pasture losses; exceptional fire risk; shortages of water in reservoirs, streams, and wells, creating water emergencies.

Potential Evapotranspiration Rates:

Iowa

Disaster & Drought Assistance:

Other Drought Web Sites:

Minnesota DNR
ReadyWisconsin (Part of the Wisconsin Emergency Management Team)

Drought Plans:

River and Stream Flow Conditions:

As of the morning of April 16, rivers and stream flows ranged from much below to above normal in northeast Iowa, below to normal in western Wisconsin, and near-normal in southeast Minnesota.

NOTE: This is time-sensitive and conditions could change. Updated river and streamflow conditions can be found via links to the right.

Hourly and forecast river stages out to 90 days can be found at:

NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS)

Additional Current stream and river stages may be viewed at:

USGS WaterWatch

An interactive table of sites that are at or near record flows can be found at:

USGS WaterWatch

Agricultural Impacts:

Here are the latest Agricultural Statistics Service reports for Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin issued on April 15, 2024.

Iowa

Dry conditions and warmer-than-normal temperatures helped Iowa farmers as days suitable for fieldwork increased to 4.9 for the week. Fieldwork included tillage, spraying, applying fertilizer, and seeding oats. Some corn and soybeans were also planted.

Topsoil moisture condition rated 15 percent very short, 37 percent short, 46 percent adequate, and 2 percent surplus.
Subsoil moisture condition rated 24 percent very short, 39 percent short, 36 percent adequate, and 1 percent surplus.

Four percent of the expected corn acreage has been planted. Oats seeding reached 66% complete, 9 days ahead of last year and 10 days ahead of the 5-year average. Twenty percent of the expected oat acreage has emerged, almost 2 weeks ahead of last year and the average.

There were still no reports of cattle being turned out into pastures.

Minnesota

Minnesota had 3.2 days suitable for fieldwork. Fieldwork included small grain planting, tilling, and manure applications. Livestock were doing well with calving continuing.

Topsoil moisture supplies were rated 13 percent very short, 23 percent short, 60 percent adequate, and 4 percent surplus.
Subsoil moisture supplies were rated 15 percent very short, 33 percent short, 51 percent adequate, and 1 percent surplus.

Farmers started planting their row crops with corn planted at 3 percent and soybeans planted at 1 percent.

Barley planted was at 3 percent. Oats planted were at 17 percent, with 5 percent emerged. Spring wheat planted was 3 percent. Sugarbeets planted began at 2 percent.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin had 3.3 days suitable for fieldwork for the week. Despite a warm weekend, cool and wet conditions earlier in the week kept equipment out of the fields throughout most of the state. Scattered corn planting was reported in eastern and southern Wisconsin. Field activities included plowing lighter soils, readying equipment, limited alfalfa planting, oat seeding, manure hauling, and fertilizer application.

Topsoil moisture condition rated 9 percent very short, 15 percent short, 65 percent adequate, and 11 percent surplus.
Subsoil moisture condition rated 10 percent very short, 22 percent short, 60 percent adequate, and 8 percent surplus.

Oat planting progress was 10 percent complete, 5 days ahead of last year and 1 day ahead of the 5-year average. Potato planting has begun and is 11 percent complete. This was 6 days ahead of last year and the average.

Spring tillage was 12 percent complete, 1 week ahead of last year and 3 days ahead of average. Winter wheat condition was 1 percent very poor, 2 percent poor, 19 percent fair, 65 percent good and 13 percent excellent.

Pasture and range condition was 8 percent very poor, 16 percent poor, 44 percent fair, 26 percent good, and 6 percent excellent.

NASS Soil Moisture Conditions in Northeast Iowa, Southeast Minnesota, & Western Wisconsin as of April 14, 2024
State	Region	Soil	Percent of Moisture
State	Region	Soil	Very Short	Short	Adequate	Surplus
Iowa	North-Central	Top Soil	7	44	48	1
	North-Central	Sub Soil	27	51	21	1
	Northeast	Top Soil	26	31	41	2
	Northeast	Sub Soil	32	39	28	1
Minnesota	State	Top Soil	13	23	60	4
Minnesota	State	Sub Soil	15	33	51	1
Wisconsin	Southwest	Top Soil	18	8	71	3
	Southwest	Sub Soil	18	11	66	5
	West-Central	Top Soil	9	23	59	9
	West-Central	Sub Soil	10	43	38	9
	Central	Top Soil	5	23	46	26
	Central	Sub Soil	7	28	46	19
	North-Central	Top Soil	13	18	68	1
	North-Central	Sub Soil	10	27	63	0

Soil moisture supply measures how much moisture is present in cropland topsoil during the week. Soil moisture is reported as a percentage. The categories very short, short, adequate, and surplus must add up to 100%.

Very Short - Soil moisture supplies are significantly less than what is required for normal plant development. Growth has been stopped, or nearly so, and plants are showing visible signs of moisture stress. Under these conditions, plants will quickly suffer irreparable damage.

Short - Soil dry. Seed germination and/or normal crop growth and development would be curtailed.

Adequate - Soil moist. Seed germination and/or crop growth and development would be normal or unhindered.

Surplus - Soil wet. Fields may be muddy and will generally be unable to absorb additional moisture. Young developing crops may be yellowing from excess moisture.

The map below lists the Agricultural Districts in southeast Minnesota, western Wisconsin, and northeast Iowa.

Additional information on agriculture impacts may be viewed from the:

Fire Danger Hazards:

As of the morning of April 17, fire danger was moderate (fires start easily and spread at a moderate rate) in northeast Iowa, and there was low (fires start easily and spread at a low rate) fire danger across the remainder of the area.

NOTE: This is time-sensitive and conditions could change from day to day. Fire conditions can change drastically on drier, windy days. Updated DNR fire conditions can be found via links to the right.

Citizens should always check with local officials in their area before undertaking any outside burning. Citizens are liable for damages and suppression costs of any wildfire they may start.

Description of Fire Danger Ratings

For updated DNR Fire Conditions consult the following Web Sites:

The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) is a drought index that is specifically related to fire potential. The KDBI is broken into four categories which indicate the susceptibility of ground fuels to fire danger. Below are the four categories and a brief description of each.

Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KDBI)
KBDI Value	Description of Fire Potential
0 to 200	Low - Wet with little danger of fire initiation
201 to 400	Moderate - Drying occurring with some fire danger
401 to 600	High - Ground cover is dry and will burn readily
601 to 800	Extreme - Dead and live fuels will burn readily

KBDI and Dead Fuel Moisture data can be found through the:

Wildland Fire Assessment System (WFAS)

Burn Bans:

Iowa

Precipitation/Temperature Outlooks:

From April 17 through April 24, temperatures will range from colder- to near-normal and precipitation will average below normal. During this time frame, daily average temperatures range from 46 to 51°F, and precipitation averages around 1.10".

From April 25 through May 1 (8-14 day outlook), the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) has the odds tilted toward enhanced chances of above-normal temperatures and precipitation for the Upper Mississippi River Valley. The normal daily average temperatures for this period range from 49 to 54°F and the normal precipitation is around 9-tenths of an inch.

During May 2024, the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) has the odds tilted toward enhanced chances of above-normal temperatures. Meanwhile, the odds are slightly tilted toward drier-than-normal along and north of Interstate 90 and equal chance of wetter-, near-, and drier-than-normal for the remainder of the Upper Mississippi River Valley. The 1991-2020 normal temperature for May is around 50°F north of Interstate 94 and ranges from 50 to 55°F elsewhere in the Upper Mississippi River Valley. The 1991-2020 normal May precipitation ranges from 3.5 to 4.5" along and north of Interstate 94, and ranges from 4.5 to 5.25" across the remainder of the area.

From June through August 2024, the Climate Prediction Center has enhanced chances for above-normal temperatures and equal chances of above-, near-, and below-normal precipitation for the Upper Mississippi River Valley. Seasonal temperatures are in the mid-60s to mid-70s in June and July, and seasonal precipitation ranges from 12 to 14" along and north of Interstate 94, and from 14 to 16" across the remainder of the area.

Below are the seasonal outlooks for the next year.