Drought tightening its grip on Iowa

No part of Iowa has received sufficient rainfall to escape drought, according to the latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Most of the state is in a moderate drought, according to the report released Thursday morning. A swath of eastern Iowa is "abnormally dry," but the most dramatic shift from the past week is the expansion of severe drought into the Quad Cities area.

All or part of 15 counties in east central Iowa are now considered to be enduring severe drought conditions. Those are in addition to the southern parts of Appanoose, Davis and Van Buren counties, which crossed the severe drought threshold last week.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said what most already knew: The drought is harming crops. Spring forecasts held out hope of a record corn crop. But the USDA said Wednesday new estimates point to the crop being 12 percent less than those earlier forecasts.

That 12 percent will be a larger impact than normal. According to the USDA, farmers planted more corn this year than in any season since 1937.

The forecast provides little relief. The National Weather Service suggests a slight chance of rain Friday and Saturday, but the prediction never rises above a 30 percent chance in southeast Iowa. And temperatures in the mid-to-upper 90s will return next week.