The climatological spring season of 2015 began on a dry note in Iowa, with March precipitation averaging only 27 percent of normal in Iowa, ranking as the state’s seventh driest March in 143 years.

April precipitation was more variable across the state with amounts well above normal in some areas, but also well below normal in others. April temperatures averaged a few degrees above normal in nearly all of Iowa.

The heaviest April precipitation generally fell from the west-central and southwestern parts of the state into north-central and northeast Iowa, where a few locations reported amounts more than 1.5 inches above normal. The lightest amounts generally fell in parts ...