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Drought relief for some, not all of Midwest

Drought conditions persist across the majority of the Midwest, but a meteorologist says there’s more rain in the forecast for central areas. Melissa Mainhart with the National Weather Service based in St. Louis says parts of Missouri and Illinois will get more rain this weekend.

“There’s about a half inch of rain possible across areas of central Illinois. As we get into mid-Missouri and east-central Missouri, we’re looking at up to one inch of rain.”

She tells Brownfield even with the recent rains, the Mississippi River levels remain low.

“The river system is large. We would need good rain to fall, not only in the St. Louis region, but upstream in Iowa and Wisconsin. That would need to go into the system and downstream.”

The U.S. Drought Monitor says north, west and eastern portions of the Midwest remain dry, with temperatures above normal.