Drought intensifies in Kansas & Missouri, weekly report says
JULY 26, 2012 - Dry soil is seen in Brighton, Tenn., as the growing U.S. drought continues
Photographer: NBC
Copyright: NBC
Posted: 08/16/2012
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By: Associated Press
A new report suggests that while recent rains stabilized the devastating drought gripping Iowa and other key farming states, the dry conditions intensified in both Missouri and Kansas.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday shows the overall expanse of land across the contiguous U.S. states weathering some form of drought dropped less than 1 percent to 61.8 percent as of Tuesday.
In Iowa, the nation's leader in corn production, the amount of land mired in extreme or exceptional drought -- the two worst classifications -- dropped 7 percentage points to 62.05 percent over the past week.
But the amount of Missouri in exceptional drought spiked almost 18 percent, from 13.89 to 35.51, while that number in Kansas rose from 38.6 percent last week to 63.3 percent now.
Nebraska also saw a spike in the amount of the state in exceptional drought status, jumping 19 percentage points to 22.5 percent.
Copyright AP Modified, Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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