(4:00PM Thur, September 14th 2023) The latest NOAA drought monitor update valid Tuesday September 12th, 2023 shows that much of Illinois continues to experience abnormally dry (D0) to extreme drought (D3) conditions. While conditions greatly improved across the state from late June through the middle of August, the lack of consistent and widespread rain/t’storms across the state over the few weeks or so has lead to maintenance or worsening of conditions once again for many areas. The weather pattern over the next week will support little chances for widespread and consistent rain/t’storms across the state, which will lead to a continued maintenance of drought conditions for some areas, while conditions will continue to worsen a bit once again in other areas.

Impacts…
•Widespread abnormally dry (D0) to extreme drought (D3) conditions exist across much of the state.
•Drought conditions have maintained for some areas and worsened a bit for other areas, since the previous update on September 7th.
•Little in the way of consistent rain/t’storm chances are expected across the state over the next week, which will lead to a continued maintenance of conditions for most areas and a bit of worsening of conditions of other areas.

​The next drought monitor update will be on Thursday, September 21st.