DES MOINES, Iowa -- Recent rains aren't doing much to change Iowa's drought picture.
This week's National Drought Monitor Map shows about 63 percent of the state in drought or near-drought.
It comes as the state approaches it's wettest time of year.
"We need to see at least normal rainfall during wetter months--we're pushing what should be an average of an inch a week. We see three-quarters of an inch of rain, we all clap our hands--but keep in mind that's still below normal," says Iowa Department of Natural Resources Hydrology Resources Coordinator Tim Hall.
He says Iowa's approaching it's rainiest time of year, with most of the state in or near drought.
"We'd really like to see above normal rainfall in April, May and June because those are wet months. That means wetter on top wet is really good," Hall says.
He says Iowa should average about five inches of rain across the month of May, which means an inch-and-a-quarter a week.
Hall says any more rain than that will help the state make up for years of drought.
The worst drought continues to be in Western Iowa, where 30 percent of the state is is some level of drought, with Monona and Woodbury counties in exceptional drought.
He says Mississippi River flooding in Eastern Iowa won't do much of anything to hold off drought conditions if dry weather persists as it has for the last couple of years.
"You go back from the river, say, one county and we don't necessarily have saturated soils. It's not as if the river water is coming from the Iowa side or the Illinois side--it's coming from Minnesota and Wisconsin," Hall says.
The National Weather Service says flooding along the Mississippi is expected to continue, with a flood crest coming in the next few days.