The U.S. Drought Monitor reports 71-percent of Illinois in “extreme drought”, but Western Illinois is in better shape than most other areas of the state. State Climatologist Jim Angel says we’ve only seen about an inch of rain this month in Illinois and not even that in many spots.
[audio:http://wrmj.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/drought-update.mp3|titles=drought update]
The U.S. Drought Monitor puts most of the state in the “extreme drought” category with parts of Southern Illinois rated as “exceptional drought”.