Recent dry weather has put most of South Central Illinois back into the moderate drought category.
The weekly Illinois Drought condition map puts all of Marion, Jefferson, Clinton, Washington and Fayette Counties in the moderate drought category. The western halves of Clay and Wayne Counties are also in moderate drought while the rest of the counties are listed as abnormally dry.
The moderate drought band also covers most of southwestern Illinois and extends along the Mississippi River from north of St. Louis to near the Missouri/Kentucky border. The rest of the southern half of the state is listed as abnormally dry.
The drought monitor lists 51 percent of the state in the abnormally dry category and 22 percent in moderate drought.
The monitor’s data comes before 73/100ths of an inch of rain recorded at both the Salem Water Treatment Plant and the Centralia Water Treatment Plant for Thursday and Friday.
