Iowa Geography & Climate

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Bordered on the east by the Mississippi River and on the west by the Missouri River; Iowa is located in the "heartland of America" -- a region of four distinct seasons with hot, humid summers and cold, snowy winters. The deep, black topsoil provides a fertile resource for crop production.

High temperatures in July average in the upper 80s F (26.6 c) and frequently reach 100 degrees F (37.7 c). Lows in January average between 10 to 20 degrees F (-12.2 to - 6.6 c), dropping at times below zero. Annual rainfall ranges from 26 inches (66 cm) in Northern Iowa to 36 inches (91.4 cm) in the southeast, with about 70 percent falling from April through September. Heavy snow often covers the state from January through March, with a yearly average snowfall of 50 inches (127 cm) in the north and 22 inches (55.8 cm) in the south.

Iowa's seasons provide a wide range of temperature variation throughout the year and the climate is especially comfortable from mid-spring to early summer and again from late summer to late autumn.

One of the Great Plains states, much Iowa is relatively flat with rolling hills in the eastern part of the state. The highest elevation is 1,670 feet above sea level on a farm near the state's northwest boundary and the lowest point is 480 feet at the confluence of the Mississippi and Des Moines rivers in Southeast Iowa. With an area of 56,276 square miles -- more than 90 percent of which is farmland -- Iowa is the 23rd largest of the 50 states.

Iowa ranked 30th in population in the 2000 Census with more than 2.9 million residents, up from almost 2.8 million in 1990. Its largest cities in 2000 were Des Moines with a population of 198,682; Cedar Rapids, 120,758; and Davenport, 98,359.

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Photo Credit: Iowa Division of Tourism.