The Green Hills Are Greener, At Least Once The Snow Melts

Drought conditions in Missouri as of Jan. 16th, 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.)

The past week’s heavy snows and cold temperatures have helped to provide widespread relief from drought conditions across several portions of Missouri. This week’s US Drought Monitor shows a second straight week of improvement for Schuyler County, which is now in moderate drought. Northern Lewis County also improved to moderate drought from severe, as did Boone, Cooper, Howard, Moniteau, Morgan, Pettis, western Camden, and northern Cole counties in Central Missouri and Jefferson, Madison, Perry, St François, Ste Genevieve, and southeastern Franklin, along with most of Iron and Washington counties in eastern Missouri. 33 counties across Missouri had all or part of their area upgraded from moderate drought to abnormally dry, while 21 counties saw all or part of their area exit abnormally dry condition.

All told, 13.5 percent of Missouri is no longer in drought, with the total area impacted now at 59.75 percent of the state. That continues to include 0.4 percent the state in extreme drought and 16.3 percent in severe. 23.4 percent of the state is abnormally dry, leaving 16.8 percent of Missouri with normal or excess moisture.