More nice improvements in most recent drought update

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (Iowa Media Wire) — The latest drought monitor update from the USDA (US Department of Agriculture), NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), CPC (Climate Prediction Center), and the NDMC (National Drought Mitigation Center) is in.

The NDMC released the latest drought monitor update on Thursday, July 10th. Major improvements in drought conditions have been seen in all three Siouxland states.

We have seen lots of improvements in Nebraska and South Dakota, where areas like Yankton, Norfolk, and Wayne have been removed from the abnormally dry conditions, to Neligh and Pierce where they have seen an improvement from moderate drought to abnormally dry conditions.

The only county in Siouxland experiencing severe drought conditions is the west central region of Knox County, NE.

We continue to see improvements from the heavy rains over the past few weeks, but unfortnately this had led to a few rounds of flash flooding and lots of severe weather over the months of June and July so far. We are likely far from over too, which may mean more improvements, but more chances of severe weather.

In Iowa, 63.41% of the state is not experiencing drought conditions, an over 6% improvement from last week. 36.59% of the state is experiencing abnormally dry conditions and 3.61% is experiencing a moderate drought.

For South Dakota, 44% of the state is not experiencing drought conditions, an approximate 4% improvement from last week. 56% of the state is experiencing abnormally dry conditions, a nearly 10% improvement from last week. 14.66% of the state is experiencing moderate drought conditions, a nearly 5% improvment, and 0.75% of the state being in severe drought conditions which is the exact same as last week.

Nebraska is now down to approximately 96.25% of the state being under drought like conditions, seeing an over 8% improvement. The moderate drough conditions have moved to 50.76% of the state, an improvement of more than 11%, and the severe drought is down to 12.02%, a nearly 3% improvement over the past week.

Multiple rain chances exist through Friday and again early next week, which could allow for more improvements in next week’s update.

The next drought monitor update will be posted on Thursday, July 17th.