By Sam Nelson

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Little relief from the near relentless drought plaguing corn and soybeans in the U.S. Midwest was indicated by fresh weather forecast maps on Thursday, with only minor amounts of rain expected in some areas over the next week to 10 days, an agricultural meteorologist said.

"There's not much change in the forecast. Some light rains are expected in the southeast Midwest into the weekend and some showers in the eastern Dakotas," said John Dee, meteorologist with Global Weather Monitoring.

Rainfall amounts from 0.30 to 0.80 inch were expected in the southeastern Midwest and in the Dakotas, but virtually no rain was likely elsewhere, he said.

High temperatures for the next week were forecast to hover in the upper 80s to low 90s degrees Fahrenheit, he said.

"Overall it's not as threatening as last week, but still no organized rain event so it's still not a great forecast," Dee said.

There was a chance of rainfall later next week. "For the second half of next week there could be some rainfall of 0.30 to 0.80 inch with about 75 to 80 percent coverage of the Midwest," Dee forecast.

The updated midday run of the U.S. weather model was drier than the previous one for the next few days, stretching from northern Missouri into northwestern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. The updated forecast removed about 0.25 inch of rain over the period from its previous run, said Don Keeney, meteorologist for MDA EarthSat Weather.

"It shows a little bit of rain, but not to the extent that the model showed this morning, which would trend toward the European model. The European model has been quite dry in those northwest areas," Keeney said. Continued...