One Patch Of Dryness Remains in South Central Missouri

Drought conditions in Missouri as of July 20th, 2021. (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.)

Areas of abnormal dryness in Missouri are now limited to a patch covering parts of four counties in the south central part of the state. USDA’s weekly drought monitor indicates that this patch covers northern and western Carter, southern Reynolds, eastern Shannon, and western Wayne counties. This is equal to just over 1.5 percent of the state’s area, down from two-point-nine percent of the state last week in pre-drought conditions.

Several neighboring states continue to deal with worse conditions, but are seeing small signs of improvement. Almost 27 percent of Iowa is in severe drought, but those conditions are not as far south as they were just two weeks ago. The northern suburbs of Chicago continue to deal with severe drought, remaining the only part of Illinois experiencing this extent of drought. Areas of Nebraska along the upper Missouri River are in severe drought, accounting for two percent of the state, while another 19 percent is in moderate drought. Less than two percent of Oklahoma is in moderate drought, and an even smaller percentage of Kansas and Tennessee are in this first stage of drought.