DES MOINES, Iowa -- More of Iowa is slipping into drought, and areas already there are getting worse.
"D-2 (severe drought) is something you see every 10 to 20 years--not a very common event. We've got D-2 centered around sort of West-Central Iowa" says Iowa Department of Natural Resources Hydrologist Tim Hall.
He says the National Drought Monitor Map shows almost all of the western half of the state is in severe to moderate drought, or at least abnormally dry.
"On average, across the state, we should be getting just over an inch of rain every week. If we got an inch of rain this week, and an inch of rain next week that would just be normal rainfall. That would not help make up a deficit like this" Hall says.
He says some parts of West-Central Iowa are anywhere from two to four inches of rain behind.
"That means we'd have to have double the amount of normal rain just to make up the deficit" Hall says.
He says the current National Drought Monitor Map--released Thursday--does not reflect any of the rain that fell in Iowa last weekend or earlier this week.