Recent rain has helped ease the drought in some sections of Kansas, but the state still needs considerably more moisture.

The U.S. Drought Monitor says in a report released Thursday that the amount of Kansas in extreme or exceptional drought dropped from about 70 percent to less than 65 percent.

The improvements after the early March rains were largely in east-central Kansas.

But long-term moisture shortfalls still persist across the state. The National Weather Service says Kansas still has "precipitation deficits" of up to 20 inches in much of the state, particularly in southern and eastern sections.