Several counties now under severe drought conditions

The latest drought monitor from the USDA shows that several counties in western Kentucky and southern Illinois are now under severe drought conditions.

In data released Thursday, all of Ballard County and parts of McCracken, Livingston and Crittenden counties have escalated from moderate drought, which covers every other county from the Mississippi River to Lake Barkley.

Western Kentucky is virtually the only part of the state experiencing dry conditions. Only 13 percent of the commonwealth is deemed to be in drought of any degree.

In southern Illinois, severe drought is now occurring in Alexander, Pulaski, Massac, Pope, Johnson, Union and Hardin counties. It's much the same story for most of Illinois, where 84 percent of the state is experiencing moderate to extreme drought.

Moderate drought also extends into northwest Tennessee along the Kentucky border.

Missouri is much harder hit than the rest of our region. A large swath of the central portion of the state is experiencing extreme and exceptional drought.

The USDA ranks the deficit of soil moisture on a five-tier scale:

D0 - abnormally dry
D1 - moderate drought
D2 - severe drought
D3 - extreme drought
D4 - exceptional drought