Here is the chart for the temperature departures for 2008 in Iowa. It shows that after a warm early part to the year, temperatures fell below the yearly average by springtime and never fully recovered. A slight uptrend brought the levels closer to normal in the summer and into fall, but a cool November and December with very short warm spells leveled out the gains. Typically the average yearly temperatures in Iowa range from 45.5°-52°, but in 2008, the yearly temperatures were between 0.7-3° below that, with the range being from 43.3°-51°. It will be interesting to see if this cooler than average trend continues into 2009.