Quarter of Indiana remains in severe drought - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

The effects of this summer's long dry spell linger in Indiana with roughly the southern one-quarter of the state still listed as in severe drought.

The U.S. Drought Monitor's weekly report released Thursday shows continuing improvement with recent heavy rains across much of the state.

The report says nearly 27 percent of Indiana is in severe drought, but none in the more serious categories of extreme or exceptional drought. Five weeks ago, two-thirds of the state was listed in those levels.

Despite the August and September rainfall, the report continues to classify 88 percent of Indiana in at least moderate drought.

Indiana drought report

The map also shows two-thirds of Iowa now in extreme or exceptional drought, the two worst categories. That's because the amount of that state in extreme drought rose slightly while the swath in exceptional drought remained unchanged at 2.4 percent.

The worst two drought categories held steady in Nebraska, at 97.4 percent of the state, and were nearly unchanged in Illinois, at 6.67 percent. Missouri's numbers dropped more than 6 percentage points, to 25.20 percent.

The land area in the lower 48 states in extreme or exceptional drought remained at about 21 percent.

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