Although there is snow covering parts of the area, much of south central and southern Illinois is seeing abnormally dry to drought conditions. There also doesn’t seem to be much drought relief in sight.

Matt Barnes is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln. He says although drought conditions do not expand as quickly in the winter, the long-term dry weather has led to where we are today.

In December of 2015, the area saw a deluge a rain in late December, but Barnes says it is normally difficult to come out of drought conditions in the winter. He says it’s especially not likely to happen the next couple of weeks.

Barnes says unless the area sees a large system, the drought could linger into the spring planting season, which could become a problem for farmers.