Despite much needed rain in several portions of southeast Iowa, severe drought conditions persist in a majority of the KCII listening area.

Extreme drought has backed off slightly in Jefferson County, however. After 59.09 percent of the county was classified as extreme last week, the percentage has decreased to 35.26. The other area of extreme drought in the southern edge of Keokuk County went unchanged at 13.21 percent.

One hundred percent of Washington County remains under severe drought conditions for the second straight week, while a marginal drop in Louisa County put their severe drought areas at 99.67 percent. Henry County saw more of a significant improvement, with severe drought dropping to 87.57 percent, after being at 100 percent last week.

To the north, both Iowa and Johnson Counties saw the largest spread of severe drought. Areas of severe drought grew from 58.2 percent in Johnson County to 91.99 percent this last week. Meanwhile, 78.13 percent of Iowa County was classified as severe, up more than 50 percentage points from the week prior.

The estimated population in these drought areas saw a slight decrease to just over 226,000. To view the drought outlook in your county, as well as the rest of the state, click here.