Recent data from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that nearly 75 percent of Kansas was experiencing some drought at the end of March.

Wichita ? A dry winter has left much of Kansas back in the grip of some level of drought, according to weather officials.

Recent data from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that nearly 75 percent of Kansas was experiencing some drought at the end of March. That compared with barely 2 percent just three months ago, The Wichita Eagle reported.

About half the state is “abnormally dry,” and southwest Kansas is in moderate drought, according to the Drought Monitor.

“We’re way down” for precipitation so far this year in southwest Kansas, said Larry Ruthi, meteorologist in charge of the Dodge City office of the National Weather Service. Dodge City and Garden City are more than 2 inches below normal since the start of the year. Garden City has had only a fraction of an inch of rain so far this year.

Only northern sections of Kansas and eastern sections south of Kansas City are not in some form of drought.

Wichita is also notably below normal for the year. Wichita has had 2.27 inches of rain so far, about half of what the figure should be for the first three months of the year.

“It’s not looking super-promising” for rain in the next week or so, said Vanessa Pearce, a meteorologist with the Wichita branch of the weather service.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center, however, has projected above normal rainfall for all but the northeastern corner of Kansas over the next three months.

Ruthi said the region is showing signs of stress from the drought.

“If we can’t get something going this spring, I am very concerned about the summer season for us,” he said.