Soils freeze amid the cold winter temperatures, and dry conditions allow soils to freeze to greater depths. https://cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/Drought/Monitoring/smp.shtml
The amount of topsoil moisture rated short to very short is highest in #Nebraska and #SouthDakota at 89% and 88%. The value for the contiguous US is 50%, which is considerably higher than the previous 7 years. This is the last USDA issuance of moisture values for 2022.