Drought that has plagued North Dakota all summer worsened again in the past week, with exceptional drought beginning to creep into the southwest after appearing in the east last week.
Exceptional drought — the worse of four categories, now covers nearly 16% of the state, up from 14% last week, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor map. There is a large patch in central North Dakota, and small areas in the middle of the Red River Valley and in Golden Valley County in the west.