By Sam Nelson

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scattered rains over the last 24 hours provided little relief for U.S. Midwest corn and soybean crops that are rapidly deteriorating in the worst drought since 1988, and the forecast is for scant rain for the next two weeks, meteorologists said on Saturday.

"Overall the rain yesterday won't put a dent in the drought because they were spotty hit or miss kind of rains. Certainly some isolated areas will benefit, but it was not a significant drought buster," said AccuWeather meteorologist Dan Pydynowski.

Thunderstorms on Friday left from 0.25 inch to 0.50 inch of rain in portions of eastern Iowa and northern Illinois, including Chicago, with isolated amounts up to one inch, meteorologists said.

There were similar showers of "0.25 inch or so" in portions of parched southern Indiana and southern Illinois, Pydynowski said.

Some showers were expected in the Midwest from Saturday through the end of next week, MDA EarthSat Weather meteorologist Steve Silver said. But the minimal amount of rain accompanied by high temperatures will continue to stress crops.

"There won't be enough rain to dent the drought," Silver said.

Only about 25 percent of the Midwest received some rain on Friday with most of the moisture in Wisconsin, Minnesota, eastern Iowa, northeast Missouri and a few spots in central and northern Illinois, said Joel Widenor, meteorologist for Commodity Weather Group (CWG).

"There was some local relief and about 20 to 25 percent of the Midwest will see similar rains during the next 1 to 5 days," Widenor said.

Meteorologists agreed that the combination of high temperatures and minimal rainfall will continue to erode production prospects for the 2012 corn and soybean crops.

"The general pattern is still hot and dry, especially in the west half of the Midwest. High temperatures in the west will reach the 90s (degrees Fahrenheit) to 100s during the next week and the low to mid-90s in the east," Widenor said. Continued...