Johnson County’s drought condition has been downgraded after being under moderate drought conditions for more than two months.
In the U.S. Drought Monitor’s Weekly Update on Thursday, the county was lowered from the “D1 — Moderate Drought” category to the “D0 – Abnormally Dry” category. The county had been under a moderate drought since mid-November.
When an area is abnormally dry, dryland crops and rangeland are stressed. Lawns can turn brown and gardens are watered more frequently, according to Drought.gov.
The Drought Monitor is a five-category system, with D0 – Abnormally Dry being the lowest category and D4 – Exceptional Drought being the highest category. Each weekly update uses data from the previous seven days to make the assessments.
Most of Indiana is now under the Abnormally Dry category, with a section of far eastern Indiana remaining under the Moderate Drought category. The southern edge of Indiana, along with a most of northeastern Indiana and a small area of far western Indiana has no drought conditions at all, federal officials say.
The county has not been, and continues to not be, under a drought declared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
