Parts of the Miami Valley area are now officially in drought -- including all of Montgomery, Greene, Butler and Clinton counties, Storm Center 7 Meteorologist Robert Gauthreaux III said Thursday.
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The update comes on the heels of a week of abnormally dry conditions across the Miami Valley.
Thursday’s drought monitor now reports 62 percent of the state is in Stage “D1″ drought, and nearly 98 percent of the state is at least abnormally dry (D0).
Last week’s drought monitor report issued by the National Drought Mitigation Center acknowledged that nearly 75 percent of Ohio was abnormally dry, but not yet in drought.
The highest stage of drought is Stage D4.
The National Drought Mitigation Center, located at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, issues weekly drought monitor reports in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and state climatologists.