2023 was Charles City’s third driest year since the 1800s

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

2023 was the third driest year on record for the Charles City area, going back more than 100 years.

With the year completed, the total amount of precipitation received was only 20.9 inches, according to records with the National Weather Service (NWS).

Only the years 1989, with 16.57 inches, and 1910, with 15.89 inches, were drier in Charles City, although there are some years where some monthly totals are missing in NWS records.

The average, or “normal,” amount of  precipitation annually for the Charles City area over the years according to the NWS has been 37.72 inches, meaning 2023 received only a little more than half of the usual amount – 55.4%.

For what the NWS calls the “growing season” – April through December – Charles City received 15.84 inches of rain total, compared with a normal amount during that period of 33.64 inches, or only 47% of the regular amount.

Charles City did get some nice rain during December. Over Christmas and the day after the area received 1.19 inches. In fact, the 0.85 inches received on Dec. 26 set a record for the amount of precipitation received on that day.

Luckily – or unluckily, depending on how you feel about a white Christmas – the temperature on Christmas had a high of 52 and a low of 37, meaning that almost all the precipitation fell as rain. If you go by the NWS average of 13 inches of normal snow for each inch of rain, the Charles City area avoided more than 15 inches of snow over Christmas.

Christmas Eve also set another record – for highest temperature recorded in Charles City on Dec. 24 at 68 degrees.

Normally the Charles City area sees about 8 inches of snow in December, 9.5 inches in January, 9.3 inches in February, 5.4 inches in March, and 3.73 inches in April.

Small amounts of snow fell on seven different occasions in December 2023, but never enough to be listed as more than a “trace,” and never enough to stick around more than a few days.

The National Drought Monitor shows Floyd County remaining in an area wrapping from northeast Iowa to the south and then to west central Iowa, that is still listed as extreme drought. That’s the fourth-most-severe possible drought designation, only exceeded by exceptional drought.

Although small areas of the eastern part of the state were under the exceptional drought designation during parts of the late summer and fall, no areas of the state currently have that distinction.

Above-normal precipitation in October helped many parts of the state, State Climatologist Justin Glisan said, but November saw just a fraction of normal rain and the Charles City area didn’t even receive that.

In northeast Iowa, all or parts of Floyd, Chickasaw, Fayette, Howard, Mitchell and Winneshiek counties are listed as in extreme drought.

According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the current drought is the longest since the 1950s, with abnormally dry and drought conditions extending into the 190th week in a row.

“At this point, any moisture we get in the state will be helpful,” said Tim Hall, the hydrology resources coordinator for the Iowa DNR. “With conditions as dry as they are coming out of 2023 there is a real concern for hydrologic conditions moving into 2024. Low stream flows and dry soil conditions could lead to water supply challenges in the coming year.”

Also, Hall said, the dry winter months will make drought recovery challenging. January is normally the driest month of the year in the state, with an average of less than one inch of moisture.

“Strong El Niño conditions are projected to persist through winter,” said  Climatologist Glisan. “In an El Niño winter, precipitation can be highly variable. Warmer than normal temperatures could result in more rain than snow during the winter months.”