PIERRE, (KCCR) — Drought is tightening its grip on parts of western and more of central South Dakota. This week’s update of the U-S Drought Monitor shows expansion of moderate drought into Mellette County and Jackson Counties. Mellette went from zero to 47-percent moderate drought in one week. Abnormally dry is still 81-percent but just shy of 82-percent and drought free parts of Mellette County have fallen slightly to 18-point-two percent from 18-point-three-five percent last week. Jackson County saw only a slight addition of moderate drought from zero to six-percent. Abnormally dry is up one-percent in Dewey and Ziebach Counties. Only 12-point-six percent of Ziebach is drought free along the Cheyenne River. Haakon County is 92-percent in abnormally dry. The worst conditions remain along the South Dakota border with Wyoming and Montana where pockets of extreme drought has developed. Harding County is 16-percent extreme and 100-percent in moderate drought. Extreme drought makes up three-percent of Custer and eight-percent of Pennington County.
