(Des Moines) State Climatologists Dr. Justing Glisan says the latest U.S. Drought Monitor has improved thanks to a more active storm pattern across the state in the last seven days. Glisan says the drought monitor map is the current conditions on the ground and is not a forecast. The data was attributed at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesdays for the previous seven days.
Glisan says the current map shows a good swath of the removal D-0 in central and eastern Iowa. The D0 reflects a 0–60-day dryness, not drought.
In southwest Iowa, Mills, Montgomery, Fremont, and Page Counties remain in a D1 or moderate drought category.
Glisan says precipitation chances usually ramp up from Mid-May to Early June, which would help improve the drought conditions in the state even further.
