According to today's Drought Monitor report of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), weather conditions varied widely in the Midwest region this week. In the western half of the region, conditions mostly stayed the same or improved after widespread precipitation over the past couple weeks, including much of Missouri and Illinois.
Extreme drought was removed from southern Illinois after recent heavy rains improved conditions there.
Improvements due to the last couple weeks of rain were also common across most of Kentucky, where drought coverage saw another drop this week.
Small-scale improvements were made in parts of Iowa this week due to recent heavy rain and snow and improved conditions.
Large-scale improvements were made in Minnesota this week after heavy precipitation occurred in the last couple of weeks.
Drier conditions continued along the central Indiana/Ohio border this week, where short-term severe drought developed due to worsening precipitation deficits, streamflow and growing soil moisture deficits.
For the full USDA report for Dec. 22, click here.