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Although the remnants of Hurricane Francine may provide some relief over the next several days, drought conditions in Kentucky have deepened due to recent hot and dry weather, according to the U.S Drought Monitor report issued Thursday morning.

Only 19 percent of Kentucky is now considered to be in a no drought area. That compares to 26 percent last week, and 57 percent two weeks ago.

The area considered to be “Abnormally Dry,” or D0 on the scale which goes up to D4 for areas with “Exceptional Drought” conditions, currently stands at 21 percent. That is just half of last week’s 42 percent, due to an expansion in more serious drought status over the past seven days.

The area with “Moderate Drought conditions, or D1, has grown to 38 percent, up from the 31 percent reported last week.

“Severe Drought” D2 conditions, have expanded from 0.5 percent the last two weeks, only in portions of Boyd and Lawrence counties, has now grown to 22 percent of Kentucky.

See the map that accompanies this story for the drought conditions in your county.

Lindsay Johnson with the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC), located at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, offered this summary of the Midwest, in which they place Kentucky, during the past week.

“The Midwest continued to observe dry conditions this week,” she said. “Despite the much-needed reprieve in heat, with temperatures being 2 to 6 degrees below normal for most areas, numerous cities had one of their hottest summers on record and abnormal dryness saw vast expansion. Many areas of the Midwest are now in abnormally dry or worse conditions. Kentucky, eastern Missouri, southern Illinois, southern and eastern Indiana and western Ohio all saw one-category expansions, especially moderate drought. Soil moistures in the southern and eastern Midwest are beginning to show signs of deeper level drying, with no precipitation to provide relief.”

Looking ahead, once the remnants of Francine leave Kentucky, both the 6-10 day and 8-14 day outlooks call for above normal temperatures and near normal precipitation.

The U.S. Drought Monitor is produced through a partnership between the NDMC, the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  Data is collected each Tuesday morning, with the report issued on Thursday.