Recent rain and snow that fell over the holiday weekend made no impact on drought conditions locally. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor Report, extreme drought remains in place in all of Warren County and just under half of Marion County. The rest of Marion County continues to face severe drought conditions. Extreme drought conditions remain unchanged in the surrounding counties as well, with portions of Polk, Madison, Clarke, Lucas, Mahaska, and Monroe facing the third worst category on the national report. Jasper County is the lone county regionally that is not experiencing extreme drought, with 100% of the county facing severe drought. Rain and snow that fell in the middle of the week, missed the Tuesday morning cutoff for the report and will be included in next week’s update. Much needed precipitation is unexpected according to the National Weather Service, as dry conditions are anticipated into the beginning of the new year.