Parts of Iowa, Missouri nearing drought status

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Parts of Iowa, Missouri and other Midwest states are teetering close to drought status.

The National Drought Mitigation Center on Thursday classified a large swath of southern Iowa, areas along the northern Missouri border and the region east toward Illinois and Wisconsin as abnormally dry. This is one level below its moderate drought category.

The label comes just a week after the center categorized the area as normal.

The Omaha World-Herald reports (http://bit.ly/18Cp1tD ) much of the Plains, including Minnesota, the Dakotas and southern Nebraska, were already near drought or in drought, and most of the region remains unchanged from last week.

Much of the country has experienced a warmer and drier winter than normal.

The drought center is located at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

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Information from: Omaha World-Herald, http://www.omaha.com