US High Plains drought deepens a bit, south driest in weeks Thu Jul 11, 2013 8:57am EDT (Reuters) - Drought conditions in the U.S. High Plains region, including in key wheat state Kansas, deepened slightly over the past week, while conditions in the south reached their driest in two months, according to a weekly drought report. Dry conditions persisted across most of the southern Great Plains and Lower Mississippi River Valley. The temperatures were generally below normal (1 - 4 degrees F) for the week, which still means warm across that portion of the lower 48 states," the online U.S. Drought Monitor stated on Thursday. The share of the high plains region in severe to exceptional drought (D2-D4) rose to 47.6 percent in the week to July 9, up from 46.8 percent a week ago. That's still an improvement from May, when over 60 percent of the area was at that level. Link to monitor: droughtmonitor.unl.edu/ Reporting By Jonathan Leff; Editing by Nick Zieminski