This podcast highlights the challenges farmers are facing due to recent severe weather events and provides updates on crop progress and pest issues.

Recent severe weather events:

• Significant flooding in Northwest and North Central Iowa, with some areas receiving 7-13 inches of rain over 72 hours
• Record-breaking river crests on the Big Sioux, Little Sioux, and West Fork of the Des Moines River, surpassing 1993 levels.
• Multiple funnel cloud sightings and weak tornadoes across the state.
  • Explanation of funnel cloud formation due to strong updrafts and horizontal spin from outflow boundaries
• Extreme heat, with very high overnight temperatures in the 80s overnight in some areas.

Historical weather event:

• On June 27, 1953, an F5 tornado struck Cass and Adair counties, killing one person and injuring two others

The weather forecast includes:

• • Chances of showers and thunderstorms in the coming days.
  • A shift towards more moderate temperatures, with highs in the mid-80s and lows in the mid-60s expected for Central Iowa, though still above average.
  • Continued elevated probability of wetter conditions.

Climate forecast:

• Temperatures trending towards normal for early July
• Elevated chances of wetter conditions in the 6-10 and 8-14 day outlooks

Crop updates:

1. • Some farmers experienced hail damage to tomatoes, peppers, and sweet corn.
   • The first sweet corn of the season was harvested on June 24th using special early-season growing techniques.
   • Japanese beetles are causing issues for some crops, particularly sweet corn.
   • Corn earworms and squash vine borers are also active.

Podcast summary created using Claude.ai and Perplexity.ai