SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — We are just starting a dry weather pattern that will take us through the weekend, but last week’s rain has put a dent in the drought monitor.

While last week’s rain caused a delay in the harvesting, we’re now back to dry and warm conditions to help bring harvesters back to the fields.

We had widespread inch and a half to over three inch rains in KELOLAND last week. For some, it was more than the average monthly rainfall.

A lot of this fell in western, central, to eastern KELOLAND. North central and northwestern South Dakota missed a lot of the rain.

This allowed the drought to slowly retreat. The biggest improvement has showed up in northeast KELOLAND, and we’ve also been able to erase the extreme category in southwest Minnesota.

October really isn’t a month to think about improvements in the drought; but obviously, it does happen. And we might continue to see improvement with the active pattern continuing into next week. Starting as early as Monday and/or Tuesday is when we have our next chance for rain.