Extreme Drought No Longer Along I-70, Retreats From Southeast Missouri

Drought conditions in Missouri as of November 8th, 2022. (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.)

Significant rainfall through much of Missouri has resulted in the removal of extreme drought classification along Interstate 70, along with improvements across western and southern Missouri. The weekly US Drought Monitor update shows widespread upgrades around the state, with extreme drought now limited to Barton, Jasper, and western Newton counties in Southwest Missouri, along with the eastern edge of Scott County in Southeast Missouri.

Areas north of Kansas City saw improvements, with the Saint Joseph area returning to moderate drought and a majority of Andrew, Caldwell, DeKalb, Holt, Livingston, Nodaway, Putnam, and Sullivan counties emerging into post-drought conditions. Severe drought also disappeared from Cass and Bates counties south of Kansas City, as well as nearly all of South Central Missouri. Moderate drought also disappeared from Southwest Missouri’s Barry, Christian, Douglas, Stone and Taney counties, while dryness is no longer abnormal in Franklin and Gasconade counties, along with most of Crawford, Phelps, Texas, Washington, eastern Wright, and northwestern Dent counties.

Still, a majority of Missouri—50.8 percent—are in some stage of drought. Just 2.74 percent of Missouri remain in extreme drought, while 19.2 percent of the state is in severe drought. 13.4 percent of Missouri is experiencing normal levels of moisture.