Drought Conditions Worsen This Week

The updated U.S. Drought Monitor report just came out today and it shows that a moderate and severe drought is still taking place across much of Illinois and Iowa. 

In western Iowa, conditions have even worsened to the "extreme drought" category.  That covers 2% of the state.  Meanwhile, the "severe drought" coverage has dropped about 5% over the past week, but 79% of the state is now experiencing a "moderate drought", up 6% from last week.

In Iowa, 95% of the state is still "abnormally dry".

Across the Mississippi River in Illinois, 87% of the state is "abnormally dry", which is up 6% over the past week.

41% of the state is in a "moderate drought" and the area covered by a "severe drought" increased from 10% to 15% this week.

While rain is expected across Iowa and Illinois Saturday and Saturday night, amounts are only expected to be around one-quarter to one-half of an inch.

Needless to say, next week when these numbers are updated, the drought will likely worsen.

CBS4 Meteorologist Anthony Peoples