DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa's drought picture is largely unchanged from last week.
"We had been hoping for normal to above-normal rainfall, but we were not faced with that in October. It's also a story haves and have-nots again--Eastern Iowa recevived above normal rainfall, and Western Iowa did not" says Iowa Department of Natural Resources Hydrology Resources Coordinator Tim Hall.
He says more than two-thirds of Iowa--mostly in west and central parts of the state--is under some level of drought, with the northwest corner in extreme drought. Eastern Iowa is almost completely drought-free.
Hall says be it in the form of rain or snow--much of Iowa can still use some moisture.
"We would welcome any moisture that we get. That will help us bank up water for soil moisture, and ultimately stream-flow and shallow groundwater come spring" he says.
Hall says Iowa is running out of time to reverse drought conditions--winter months are Iowa's driest, and the ground's going to freeze at some point.
"The monthly average precipitation numbers continue to decrease. We're moving into months that are typically drier" he says.
Image from The National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln