Western Illinois might be close to the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, but it’s the driest part of the state this year.
The worry also is widespread, considering the reach of this winter’s drought is even worse than in 2012, a year that brought the worst drought in the U.S. since the Dust Bowl and cost cost farmers, ranchers and governments an estimated $30 billion, according to the federal National Centers for Environmental Information.
And, outside of some winter wheat, the lack of moisture won’t impact many crops.
There’s still time for spring rains to rehydrate the region.
I mean, it was like Biblical amounts of rainfall in one month.” Climate change is bringing these massive, wet storms to the Midwest more often, Angel says, especially in the last four or five years.
The West is another story: “California, Arizona, New Mexico, that area is getting drier over time,” he says.
In 2012, for example, there were $17 billion in crop insurance payouts, and the government covered $12 billion.
Stein says he’ll be hoping for the best.
And back in Jerseyville, Schafer says he’ll need at least a little rain by April to help his corn sprout.
Yet, he’s also concerned about possible massive storm events, because flooding won’t be good for his crops, either.

“The shortage has greatly affected learning in various schools in this area.
Most of them are deserted,” he said.
In Silale ward, learning has been interrupted in eight primary schools and two Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centres in the last two weeks.
Kapedo East Assistant Chief Lomunasiwa Kelemuria said most schools were deserted as teachers and pupils went in search of water.
Residents walk “Residents walk as far as 20km in search of water,” he said.
Nalekat, Natam, Sokulen, Cheptunoiyo and Orusion primary schools are among schools that have been closed.
ALSO READ: What we need to do to stop the destruction of tree cover Others, like Tiling’wa Primary School, are on the verge of closing.
All the tanks are empty and boreholes dried up,” said the school’s head teacher.
County Director of Education Willie Muchocho said his office was working to supply the affected schools with water to ensure that pupils remained in class.
“We are working with the ministry to ensure that water bowsers are stationed in the schools during the dry season.

Precipitation also fell in other parts of the country including the northern Plains, Northeast, and much of the West.
Southeast This week in the Southeast, the heavy rain swath in the central United States brought moderate to heavy rain amounts to parts of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Virginia, with parts of western Tennessee receiving over 5 inches of rain.
In central Georgia, moderate drought expanded as short-term rainfall deficits continued to build and warmer than normal temperatures helped to dry out soil.
Urban areas of southern California already in severe drought have continued to experience largely dry conditions; conditions remain at status quo because of the recent rain and lack of widespread water supply issues.
High Plains Some light to moderate precipitation fell in central and eastern Nebraska and the eastern Dakotas, while heavier precipitation fell in southeast Kansas during the series of major rain/snow events in the central and southern United States.
A small part of the moderate drought in central South Dakota improved to abnormal dryness.
South Heavy rainfall across the southern region resulted in significant improvements to drought in the mid-South.
Looking Ahead Over the next week, a few more storm systems are forecast to affect the central, southern, or eastern parts of the continental United States.
Conditions in the West will likely stay generally cooler than normal, while temperature swings are more likely east of the Rocky Mountains as the next few storm systems and associated fronts move across the country.
Author(s): Deborah Bathke, National Drought Mitigation Center Dryness Categories D0 Abnormally Dry—used for areas showing dryness but not yet in drought, or for areas recovering from drought.

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South Africa’s parliament will conduct an inquiry into allegations of mismanagement at the water ministry, a senior lawmaker said on Friday, as the country’s tourist hub Cape Town grapples with the worst recorded drought in its history.
Newlands swimming pool sits empty in Cape Town, South Africa February 9, 2018.
REUTERS/Mike Hutchings Mlungisi Johnson, chairman of parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation, told Reuters his committee was drafting the terms of reference for the inquiry and expected it to get under way this month.
“We are going to get to the bottom of the situation at the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and are moving with speed,” Johnson said.
A spokesman for the DWS said the ministry would cooperate with the inquiry.
Sand blows across a normally submerged area at Theewaterskloof Dam near Cape Town, South Africa January 20, 2018.
South Africa has declared a national disaster over the drought affecting southern and western regions, including Cape Town, which had two of the driest years ever recorded in 2015 and 2016.
Cape Town authorities have warned the city’s taps could run dry in July if rains do not boost dam levels, now at record low levels.
SCOPA has said it wants a criminal case opened against the DWS for opening a 2.9 billion rand ($245 million) overdraft with the central bank.
“SCOPA is concerned that it is ordinary people who are affected by the instability and financial mismanagement in this department, because South Africa is a water-stressed country,” the committee said in a statement.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The heavy rains that’s fallen over the past few months has watered the driest regions, leaving the entire state drought-free for the first time in more than two years.
“February was a really wet month in many areas of the state.
That helped eliminate the last bits of drought that were remaining state wide,” NOAA hydrologist Kevin Kodama said.
That’s good news for Hawaii’s agricultural sector, especially farmers and cattle ranchers on the Big Island.
“As cattlemen we are always encouraged by more rainfall,” said Dale Sandlin, general manager of the Hawaii Cattleman’s Council.
Kodama expects wetter-than-average conditions to remain through the end of April.
The wet winter, though, has brought problems of its own.
Several strong storms have spurred flooding in parts of the state.
Copyright 2018 Hawaii News Now.
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This week’s rainstorms belie a simple truth — the drought is back.
Three months ago, things didn’t look so bad.
Less than one-third of the state was critically dry at the end of November, and winter storms promised saturation and snow pack in the mountains.
But the storms didn’t come.
For an average year, precipitation by now should be approaching 40 inches in the northern Sierra.
They are forecast to dump several feet of snow high in the mountains.
Last week, the state Water Resources Control Board considered restoring residential conservation rules and making them permanent.
The board delayed action, though, after officials from irrigation and water agencies spoke against the plan.
If drought continues to be the new normal, the state will have to look at conservation where most of the water is consumed.
In a few months, you’ll probably be glad you have 50 extra gallons for your garden.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO/KJCT) — The drought monitor for our state puts some of Western Colorado in the "extreme" category.
Southern Mesa County, southwestern Delta County and most of Montrose County are under "Extreme Drought" conditions.
The rest of Mesa and Delta counties are under "Severe Drought" conditions.
There are some chances for rain and snow the next few days, but it might not be enough.
"We’re going to need more than one definitely," said Aldis Strautins, the service hydrologist for the Grand Junction National Weather Service.
"For the rest of the season to get up to normal we would need about 200 percent of our normal snowpack from now through rest of the spring."
Western Colorado is at around 70 percent of normal its snowpack as of Thursday.
"Mostly I’m concerned about farmers and the long-term implications of the lack of snow we have," said Samuel Hall.
"Agriculture is such a big part of our community."
"The first week or two in March is looking slightly below average right now," Strautins said.

“This is the new normal in terms of responsible tourism and travel,” said South African Tourism’s UK head Tolene van der Merwe, of the guidance and restrictions put in place on residents and visitors over the festive period, at a time when the city was concerned it did not have enough water to last its summer.
Avoid flushing the toilet, no baths, keep showers to three minutes (later cut to 30 seconds).
Re-use your towels instead of asking for a new one daily Try to flush the toilet as little as possible.
Just make sure you only run it when it is full.
Use this water calculator to make sure you’re helping to save water.
Back from the Western Cape, it’s clear staying in Cape Town at the height of the drought in January has left an indelible impression on my own water usage, at home and abroad.
Cape Town’s Water is Running Out https://t.co/idg6DJIKL8 #NASA pic.twitter.com/FwBbrlcvFw — NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) January 30, 2018 Since returning home, I’ve become much more aware of the length of my showers, the water it takes to fill a bath, and, yes, thought twice about flushing the toilet.
Indeed, the ubiquity of plastic in hotels featured in Telegraph Travel’s very own campaign to improve the way we travel.
“For decades, the travel and tourism sector has been trying to make sustainable and responsible practices more mainstream,” the WTTC said.
Prior to travelling to Cape Town I struggled to believe what I read about the city’s crisis, assuming that Day Zero could never happen in such a global city, such a key tourism destination.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO/KJCT) — The drought monitor for Colorado puts some of our area in the extreme category.
Southern Mesa County, southwestern Delta County, and most of Montrose County are under "Extreme Drought" conditions.
The rest of Mesa and Delta counties are under "Severe Drought" conditions.
"For the rest of the season to get up to normal we would need about 200 percent of our normal snow pack from now through rest of the spring."
Western Colorado is around 70 percent of normal snow pack as of Thursday.
That has people concerned about what that means come Spring and summer.
"Mostly I’m concerned about farmers and the long term implications of the lack of snow we have," said Samuel Hall.
"Agriculture is such a big part of our community."
While March is one of our wetter months, long term forecasts right now don’t offer much hope.
"The first week or two in March is looking slightly below average right now," Strautins said.

According to the Drought Monitor, 96.92 percent of the state is considered to be in some degree of drought classification.
A small area of extreme northwest North Dakota and another small portion of southwest North Dakota are listed as being in severe drought.
“The area of severe drought in the western Dakotas was changed to long-term drought as the impacts are limited to lingering groundwater and long-term precipitation deficits,” says the Drought Monitor.
North Dakota state climatologist Adnan Akyuz recently stated that drought conditions could continue well into 2018.
Much of the state, particularly in the west, endured increasingly dry drought conditions throughout 2017.
The recent soil moisture report from the state Agriculture Department cited a lack of both topsoil and subsoil moisture over more than half the state.
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