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Future U.S. Weather Past U.S Weather Morning Dom. Report Noon Update Evening/Weekend Update International Report Gary Rhea Commentary INTERNATIONAL MAPS InterRAD® RainRAD™ Thursday, December 18, 2025 - The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map, relrased early this morning, shows a small increase in dry areas from last week. Drought areas increased by 1.5% to 67.7% nationally since last week as of Tuesday. The High Plains, however, saw a decline in drought areas by about 1.5% to 43.6%. In the South Central region, continued dry weather led to a 5.3% increase in dry areas to 71.2%. The Southeast has the most drought areas and is almost at 91% too dry after more than a 5% gain since last week. The Midwest received a smaller uptick in drought zones and by nearly 2% to 68.4% too dry. In key Midwest states, Iowa saw about a 5% drop in dry areas to just under 60%. Drought areas in Illinois went up by 5.4% to over 91%. For Indiana, no changes from last week as 52.1% of this state remains in a drought .