Abnormal Dryness Descends Into North Central Missouri

Drought conditions in Missouri as of August 18th, 2020. (The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Map courtesy of NDMC

Drought conditions persisting across Iowa have now seeped across the state line into Missouri. USDA’s Drought Monitor indicates that Putnam and Schuyler counties, along with western Scotland, northern Adair, and the northeastern corners of Mercer and Sullivan counties, are in pre-drought conditions or abnormally dry. That results in over 14-point-eight percent of Missouri being in abnormally dry or drought conditions.

Four percent of the state is now in moderate drought, a one-and-a-half point increase from last week. In the past week a drought patch south of Springfield has grown to include it along with all of Christian County, southeastern Webster, western Douglas, and northern portions of Stone and Taney counties. Moderate drought also remains in the form of a crescent from northwestern Jasper County, north into much of Barton and southern Vernon counties, before turning east into central Cedar County. Northwestern Newton County, the Bootheel’s Pemiscot and southern Dunklin counties also remain in moderate drought conditions.