Osage Valley Collecting More Rain To Exit Abnormal Dryness

Drought conditions in Missouri as of Apr. 2nd, 2024. (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 West Central Missouri saw improvement for a second straight week in this week’s US Drought Monitor. The week’s update shows that as of Tuesday morning, 16 counties along and south of the Osage River exited abnormal dryness. An area of eastern Benton and southern Morgan counties was upgraded from moderate drought to abnormal dryness. The St Louis area saw improvement after Monday’s storms, with the city along with southeastern St Louis County exiting abnormal dryness, while the rest of the county joined St Charles County in exiting moderate drought. Maries, Osage, Warren, northwestern Franklin, northern Phelps, and most of Gasconade counties, returned to normal moisture levels.

However, Southeast Missouri saw more areas enter moderate drought, with all of Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Perry, Scott, Wayne, and the northern portions of Mississippi, New Madrid and Stoddard counties, entering this first stage of drought condition. Severe drought remains for Washington and Iron counties, accounting for 2.67 percent of Missouri. Moderate drought now covers 27.7 percent of the state, while 36.2 percent are abnormally dry. That leaves just over a third of Missouri now enjoying normal or excess moisture levels.