Another week without a change for Jasper County on the latest Drought Monitor Map released this(Thursday) morning. All of Jasper, Story, and Marshall County remain in severe drought, while extreme drought conditions still exist in the other neighboring counties. Nearly all of Warren County is in extreme drought. Western and southern Polk County have extreme drought conditions, as does the eastern 2/3rd’s of Tama County; the northeastern tip of Poweshiek County, the southwestern corner of Mahaska County, and southern and western Marion County. Officials with the U.S. Drought Monitoring service say temperatures were below normal over the entire Midwest region this week with isolated precipitation. A reassessment of western and southern Iowa allowed for some improvement to the extreme and severe drought areas. It was also reported that insulation from the snow has kept soils thawed in some areas, allowing for moisture infiltration in soils.