A warmer-than-normal and fairly dry winter has created a wide variation in soil moisture amounts across Iowa heading into the growing season.

Latest estimates from the U.S. Climate Prediction Center indicate soil moisture in about the 5 feet of soil ranges from as much as 3 to 4 inches above normal in parts of north-central and northeastern Iowa to as much as 1.5 to 2.5 inches below normal in some south-central and southeastern areas.

After a long period during which sea surface temperatures in the Tropical Pacific averaged below...