Rain shrinks area of extreme drought in Eastern Iowa

Spring rainfall across parts of Iowa has eased drought conditions, relieving all but a sliver of Linn County from the extreme drought that’s persisted for months.

Just 7.43 percent of the state is currently classified as being in extreme drought — the second-driest of five categories listed by the U.S. Drought Monitor. Last week, extreme drought was reported across 10.55 percent of the state, all in Eastern and northern Iowa.

Still, about 85 percent of Iowa is experiencing some form of drought. The most prevalent are moderate and severe drought, which combine to cover 58.78 percent of the state.

The U.S. Drought Monitor pulls data for its weekly Thursday reports at 8 a.m. each Tuesday. This week’s report, which was published Thursday, does not include the rain that fell across the state on Tuesday evening and Thursday. Some parts of Eastern Iowa saw more than an inch of rain Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Parts of 17 counties in Eastern and northern Iowa still are classified as being in extreme drought, including all of Benton, Chickasaw and Floyd counties.

Linn County, which was entirely within the area of extreme drought one month ago, now is has just 9 percent extreme drought. Seventy-two percent of the county is classified as in severe drought, and 17.9 percent is in moderate drought.

Buchanan County, which had been in extreme drought, is down to 10.54 percent in extreme drought.

Despite these improvements, the U.S. Drought Monitor warned that “longer-term conditions of 6 months or more are still showing dryness” in Eastern Iowa.