Brown grass Downtown Cedar Rapids September 10th 2013

Another late season September heat wave has brought triple digit heat once again to the corn state, with the highest local temperature of 102.F at Vinton. A developing area of high pressure commonly called a heat bubble developed over the southwestern states on the heels of our 1st heat wave late last month. The heat bubble centered its self over Iowa and brought triple digit highs along with dry strong southwest winds. The most extreme heat in which highs were near or at 100 lasted 2 days. Vinton had highs in the 100s Monday and Tuesday and a record high temperature of 99 was set at Cedar Rapids Eastern Iowa Airport. Dry soil and vegetation  aided in the heat as dry soil heats up more regular then moist soil, and green grasses and crops would normally have a cooling effect, however much of the grass and crops around Eastern Iowa have died back or are brown. Most of the area has received 0.25″ of less of rain for the month. Here in Hiawatha only 0.02″ have fallen for September after a dry and hot end to August.

Here is a look of how the temperatures looked across the country during the heat wave. Map from Weather.com Notice again like last time the warmed temperatures in the Midwest are found over Iowa and not the typical states of Oklahoma and Texas

Heat waves Highest temperatures Monday-Tuesday September 9-10th

Vinton 102.F
Downtown Cedar Rapids 102.F
Marion 102.F
Hiawatha-(My Station) 101.F
Iowa City 101.F
Mount Vernon 100.F
Eastern Iowa Airport 99.F
Waterloo 99.F
Monticello 99.F
Central City 99.F
Belle Plain 98.F