The weather for 2024 has been a little different than what the state of Iowa has seen in recent history.

State Climatologist Justin Glisan says that usually summer months have been associated with dryness in the last several years, but that hasn’t been the case this year. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio what helped cause that, and what could happen in the coming months.

“When we talk about the transition from strong El Nino that we had in winter to the potential weak La Nina in summertime, we’re currently in a neutral territory, which is right between the two phases. We overall see a warmer summer, and we have seen a warmer summer. Now, we haven’t had profound heatwaves like we had after the (Iowa) State Fair in August last year, but overall, that signal is showing warmer temperatures. And then even the seasonal output is showing above average chances for warmer temperatures.”

Glisan mentions that with the chances for these warmer temperatures, there is also a chance for more wet conditions. He adds having warmer weather will work on the “savings account” of ground moisture that the state has, but that the possible rains will help with that.