Much of the state continues to need rain to make up for dry conditions that have persisted since about August of 2025. This is a fickle time of year though as temperatures are still yet chilly and moisture is limited, so significant rainfall events can be difficult to come by. The featured chart attempts to illustrate this by plotting the accumulated frequency of having at least an inch of precipitation accumulated after 18 March. For example, about half of previous years on record for Ames have accumulated at least an inch between 18 March and 4 April. Remarkably, a couple of years took over a month of time to accumulate just an inch or more. Unfortunately, the near term forecast is quite dry as our weather is heavily influenced by the strong western US anti-cyclone that is bringing record setting warmth to the southwestern US and beyond.

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