Bright sunshine and clear skies were a welcome sight for much of Iowa on Tuesday. The appearance of the sun broke a recent streak of cloudy and chilly conditions that had driven soil temperatures well below temperatures levels needed to sustain seed germination. The three panel plot presents data from the ISU Soil Moisture Network station at the ISU Ag Farm west of Ames. The bottom panel really tells the story of recent days with limited solar radiation and chilly temperatures keeping four inch depth soil temperatures at chilly levels. Full sunshine on Tuesday was able to rocket soil temperatures back to levels above 50 degrees. The current near term forecast looks very good for Iowa to get back on track with warmer and drier conditions.

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