04/22/24 Can we see the 2025 Peak in the 89-Year Cycle Drought from Here?

Typically, most watch the US drought monitor but NOAA releases a North American version every two weeks. One can see that while drought has been completely mitigated in the Western US there are still lingering patches of drought in the Heartland. The drought has not been mitigated in Canada while the severe concentrated drought still covers Mexico with no sign of relenting. Where we live in Northwest IA the drought here is gone. Our soil moisture reserves have been fully recharged by late fall, winter and now spring rains so that we are starting the season out with a full tank of subsoil moisture. We got nearly 2 inches of rain last week and for the first time we had excess water standing in fields. More rain is forecast this week so planting will not be as super-early as thought. Additional rain now could actually delay planting and be a negative thing. There are other regions such as in the ECB or Delta where too much rain is a problem. Then there is still Kansas that can be counted upon for drought.   The primary characteristic of the climate setup for 2024 is the transition from El Nino to La…