According to a national analysis, northeast Nebraska and west-central Iowa were the most deprived areas - east of the Rockies - when it comes to July rains.

The map, developed by the High Plains Regional Climate Center, was posted Thursday to the SNR Climate Center blog. The brown blotch in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa is where rainfall (east of the Rockies) was the smallest percentage of normal.

Sure, it's been dry, and sure the drought has been more brutal in states like Missouri. But this analysis is still stunning.

Norfolk recorded zero rainfall and Omaha only .01 of an inch in July.

Omaha has had five drier months in the past - when no precipitation fell - but those weren't during the heart of the growing season, said Barbara Mayes, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Valley.

Omaha's driest months were October 1952, December 2002, December 1943, January 1986 and March 1910.