(Radio Iowa) – The new map from the U-S Drought Monitor shows worsening conditions across Iowa. Only five percent of the state is shown as having normal conditions, all in the southeast, while drought gained more ground practically everywhere else. Parts of eastern and far southwestern Iowa are in the abnormally dry category, but the majority of the state’s in drought.

A week ago, 56-percent of Iowa was in moderate to severe drought, now, it’s 76-percent. Severe drought covers about 40 of the state’s 99 counties, including virtually all of northern Iowa and much of the central region.

A heat advisory is posted for much of the state today (Thursday), as highs are forecast to reach the upper 90s to around 100 degrees, with heat indices in southwest Iowa climbing to 107.