CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Drought conditions are easing up in Illinois.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor report shows 14.72% of the state experiencing some level of drought. That’s down from 27.35% the week prior.
Abnormally dry conditions are being experienced in 71.53% of Illinois, down from 85.43% from last week.
State Climatologist Trent Ford says most of the improvement has been in the central and southern portions of the state. But he says some parts of Illinois are still struggling.
“Some parts of northern Illinois, really from the Wisconsin border down to the kind of very edge of Rock Island County, has maintained a little bit of drought, even grown a little bit of drought, because they have missed out on the heavier rains. But it’s still been much wetter than what we saw between May and June,” Ford said.
Locally, all of Woodford County is at normal conditions, while 39.27% of the southwestern portion of Peoria County is abnormally dry. 79.26% of Tazewell County is abnormally dry with no drought conditions in the northern part of the county.
Ford says the decreased drought has improved crop conditions across the state, and soil moisture levels are increasing.
But conditions could change in the next week, with hot and dry conditions forecasted.
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