The latest report from the US Drought Monitor shows conditions worsening for central Illinois, including Tazewell County and Peoria and Woodford Counties. The USDM is released every Thursday.
Drought conditions in Peoria County up from 79.25% from last week to 93.56% pacing it in the abnormally dry category. Woodford County moved from 35.94% last week to 82.39% abnormally dry.
Across Illinois, drought conditons grew to 63.82% this week from 20.02% from last week. The hardest hit areas are in central and southern portions of the state experiencing severe droug
The U.S. Drought Monitor has been a team effort since its inception in 1999, produced jointly by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Meteorologists and climatologists from the NDMC, NOAA and USDA take turns as the lead author of the map, usually two weeks a time.