Corn Sweats Are Making Iowa Even Hotter

It's summer in Iowa. That means road work, mosquitoes, and... corn sweats. Yes, corn sweats are a real thing. Not just a fun term to toss around.

Corn sweat is a nickname for the muggy, sticky humidity that hits parts of the Midwest, especially Iowa, during peak corn-growing season. Enter: Late July in a summer where our corn has thrived. (YAY!)

While that's great news, it also means an even muggier, sweatier dog days of summer.

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But what is "corn sweats" exactly?

Corn Sweats: The Science Behind the Term

Yes, it's a real and scientific thing. The Weather Channel has covered it, and put Iowa as the bullseye of corn sweat country.

Here’s how it works:

• Corn is really good at pulling water from the soil and releasing it into the air.

• This happens through transpiration. Corn plants “breathe out” moisture.

• An acre of healthy corn can release 3,000–4,000 gallons of water per day into the atmosphere!

• When you have millions of acres doing that at once and... boom. Thick air. How thick? Air so thick you could drink it with a straw thick.

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Simply put: The corn sweats = nature’s humidifier, powered by fields of corn. It’s just the Midwest doing its sticky summer thing.

Why Does it Feel So Gross?

All that extra water vapor ramps up the dew point, which is the measure of how much moisture is in the air.

The higher the dew point, the hotter and stickier it feels on your skin, because your sweat can’t evaporate properly.

So, yeah, when people say "it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity…" they’re kinda blaming the corn. As if the corn cares.

This happens mostly in corn-heavy states like here in Iowa. But also, it hits hard in Illinois and Nebraska. Minnesota and Michigan, too.

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If you’re out in the countryside in July or August, you’ll REALLY notice it. Trust me. My wife and her family are farmers. It's hot up around those fields!

Step out of the AC and it hits you like a hot, wet blanket.

If you like it hot, stick inside... but not at this abandoned Iowa waterpark.