DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials say drought conditions have slightly improved in the state. The state Department of Natural Resources says in a Thursday report that Iowa received a little more than an inch of rainfall in November. That’s half of its normal rainfall during that month.

But the state’s area of exceptional drought and other categories of drought intensity have slightly dropped. Officials say they expect little or no additional groundwater recharge before spring because frost will enter the soil with the approaching winter.