Iowa (Radio Iowa)– The state of Iowa is back in a drought watch based on a system created last year to keep tabs on developing dry conditions.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources Hydrology Coordinator Tim Hall says a drought watch is similar to the alerts issued for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms.

Hall says he is also seeing the start of what could be a “flash drought”, or rapid increase in drought conditions in some areas.

The latest update of the Drought Monitor put out by the United States Department of Agriculture last week has more than 98-percent of the Iowa at least abnormally dry and nearly 43 percent already in some sort of a drought.