DES MOINES, Iowa -- Drought conditions are largely unchanged across Iowa this week.
"I think many folks expected some degradation in parts of the state given the fact that every reporting station in Iowa for the last week has recorded zero precipitation" says Iowa Department of Natural Resources Hydrology Resources Coordinator Tim Hall.
He says Iowa should be getting about three-quarters of an inch of rain a week right now.
Hall says it appears that all the rain that fell across the state nearly two weeks ago--nearly five inches on average--is still paying off.
"We're still banking on some of that moisture. Also, as the growing season comes to an end, it changes the way the drought mitigation center people tend to look at drought, as there isn't that same demand for moisture" Hall says.
As for continuing to reverse a months-long drought, Hall says Iowa's running out of time.
"Unfortunately as we move from September into October, and into November the average amount of rain we expect to get continues to drop" he says.
This week's National Drought Monitor Map shows just under 22 percent of Iowa with no drought at all--the same number as last week.
Image from The National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln