DES MOINES, Iowa -- Weekend rain across Iowa is easing drought conditions, a bit.
"Improvement is great. I think what we'll see is that drought designation area shrink over time, but it's not going to go away as a result of one or two storms," says Iowa Department of Natural Resources Hydrology Resources Coordinator Tim Hall.
This week's National Drought Monitor Map still shows areas of moderate and severe drought in Northern, Central, and Eastern Iowa.
Hall says not only is Iowa getting some rain, but there's also less demand for water now that summer has passed and the crop growing season is over.
"As we move from summer into fall, and now into later fall, the demand for water goes way down--and that helps the equation as well," he says.
As for last Sunday's rain, Hall says it hit a high-water mark for the year.
"Sunday's rainfall was the highest average daily rainfall across the state for all of 2021. That was the biggest single-day rain we've seen across the state," he says.
Some parts of Iowa saw more than four inches of rain through the day Sunday.
Rain that fallen on Iowa on Wednesday and Thursday this week will be reflected in next week's drought map.
Image from the National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln