According to the new Drought Monitor map released on Thursday, conditions remained fairly steady in south-central and southwestern Minnesota, compared to a week earlier, as the area is rated abnormally dry.
But the drought has expanded in the state and for the first time this year, some spots of “extreme drought” have shown up in a few places in Minnesota.
Most of Olmsted County is now in extreme drought. Small areas of Anoka County in the Twin Cities, as well as part of Benton County near St. Cloud are also in extreme drought.
In Iowa, the U.S. Drought Monitor shows some slight improvements following rains across Iowa.
All of the state still has some sort of drought rating, but the area that was in extreme drought dropped below 4% in the last week. The severe drought areas dropped from nearly 39% to less than 14%.
With those percentages dropping, nearly 60% of the state is now in moderate drought, and around 22% is abnormally dry.
The worst drought conditions remain in the northwest and southeast sections of the state.