A report that tracks soil moisture across the country shows that drought conditions in Alabama have improved slightly over the past week.
The U.S. Drought Monitor released Thursday found that 63.74 percent of Alabama is still dealing with abnormally dry conditions.
Al.com reports that the percentage is down from 65.01 percent last week.
The latest report shows that dry conditions are most extreme in three pockets of the state -- one near central Alabama, another in eastern Alabama and a third area in the state's southeast corner.
In southeast Alabama, cotton and peanut farmers are looking for soaking rains to improve their yields after an unusually dry summer caused their crops to start wilting.