Some areas of Michigan having the driest start to a year in several decades By Brandon James May 11, 2021 | 6:27 AM GRAND RAPIDS, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Draw a line down the middle of the country and a lot of whatâs west of it is in extreme or exceptional drought. But in the Great Lakes region, Michigan is the driest of all states by a landslide. The latest update from the U.S. Drought Monitor now puts 77% of Michigan in ‘Moderate Drought’ conditions. That’s a jump of 20% from last week’s report. Almost 80% of the state is considered ‘Abnormally Dry’. At this time last year, Michigan had only 6% of its land considered ‘Abnormally Dry’ and no areas of the state were in ‘Moderate Drought conditions.