Drought Getting Worse in Illinois

While some much needed rain is on the way later today and tonight, the drought is worsening across Illinois while it's about the same as last week across Iowa.

The U.S. Drought Monitor shows that 81% of Illinois is experiencing "abnormally dry" conditions compared to 66% last week.

42% of the state is now in the moderate drought category up 2% from last week, while 10% of Illinois is now going into a severe drought.  Last week, only 4% was in a severe drought.

In Iowa, all of the drought numbers are within a percentage point of last week.

97% of Iowa is "abnormally dry", 73% is experiencing a moderate drought and 42% is in the severe drought category.

An inch or more of rain is expected through Friday morning.

CBS4 Meteorologist Anthony Peoples