Slight Improvement For Central US Drought, But NE Worse - 96.13% Of State In Severe Or Exceptional

[hatrack]

Drought conditions improved in some parts of the Midwest, as rain and snow fell on the northern half of the continental United States this week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

But in Nebraska, where drought is most severe among the states, the portion of the state in the two worst categories, severe and exceptional, actually rose to 96.13 percent from 96.10. The portion in exceptional drought, the worst category, fell to 76.41 percent from 76.76 percent.

Exceptional drought receded slightly on the northern border of the state and in the northeast, but it crept farther into the southeast from the central counties. Drought conditions remained largely unchanged across the Upper Midwest and High Plains, where the frozen ground and long-term soil dryness slowed the ability of precipitation to provide major relief.

The U.S. Drought Monitor showed improvements in all categories of drought across the lower 48 states, with beneficial precipitation helping chip away at the edges of the extreme and exceptional patches of drought in other central states. The amount of land in the continental United States under moderate drought conditions or worse declined by 2 percent, to 51.38 percent, compared to last week.

EDIT

http://journalstar.com/ap/state/drought-eases-slightly-but-not-in-nebraska/article_5d09cd47-9801-5e54-b90b-a9747262dba7.html