(Undated) -- There's been just slight improvement in the drought picture for both Illinois and Iowa.
The new drought monitor released today (Thursday) shows little change in conditions over the past week. Severe drought continues across parts of northern IL and southern WI. An active weather pattern through the end of the month may bring some relief to the dry soils. Sixty-seven percent of Illinois is in drought or near-drought. That is down from 84-percent last week.
This week's U-S Drought Monitor shows 93-percent of Iowa in drought or near-drought. The severity, however, has eased. The northern half of Iowa remains in severe drought. Most of southern Iowa, including the Quad Cities is abnormally dry. Today's report does not include rain this week.
The National Weather Service in the Quad Cities says an active weather pattern thru the end of the month, could bring some relief to dry soils. Today (Thursday) is very windy in the region. Expect winds gusting up to 50 mph across the entire area through sunset. A rain/snow mix can be expected mainly east of the Mississippi through sunset as well. A localized dusting of accumulation is possible east of a Freeport, IL to Princeton, IL line.