(Lincoln, NE) -- Another rain-free week across Iowa is causing a slight expansion of drought conditions.
The new US Drought Monitor Monitor Map shows more extreme drought in Southern Iowa this week. It's an expansion of extreme drought that's covered some of Eastern and Northeast Iowa the last few weeks.
There's also more severe drought in Southwest Iowa this week.
Near-drought conditions persist in Northwest Iowa, which had been the driest part of Iowa for much of the last year.
Only the eastern halves of Jackson, Clinton, and Scott counties--in far Eastern Iowa--are drought-free.
More than 98 percent of Iowa is under drought or near-drought conditions.
Map image from the National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln