The U.S. Drought monitor updated Thursday, unsurprisingly marking conditions across much of central and northern West Virginia as “extreme This is the worst drought since 1999 for West Virginia. Unfortunately the prospects for improvement over the rest of August are slim. Some scattered showers and storms may return later Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, but will do little to improve conditions. The situation is not like to improve without a tropical system in the Gulf of Mexico. Right now there are no signs of anything happening there until September. The drought has severely impacted crops and farms in the area and heading into fall, the highest fire danger since at least 2019 will exist. Leaf-peeping will disappoint as leaves turn brown faster and fall off trees.