Two Out Of Three Acres In Missouri Are In Drought

Drought conditions in Missouri as of Oct. 24th, 2023. (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 remnants of Hurricanes Norma and Otis will have more fields across Missouri needing their rainfall, as in the past week, three corners of the state saw more acreage descend into drought. This week’s US Drought Monitor has downgraded southern Clark County into severe drought, as well as areas of Scotland County that weren’t already in severe or extreme drought condition. Severe drought also expanded west along the Platte/Buchanan County line into Atchison, Ks., while moderate drought appeared in central Nodaway and most of Worth counties in Northwest Missouri.

Along the Mississippi River, moderate drought expanded into St Louis City along with central and southern St Louis County, as well as all of Jefferson County. Eastern Franklin and southern St Charles counties also entered the first stage of drought, with these conditions expanding downriver into Ste Genevieve, northern Perry, and northeastern St François counties. Areas of eastern Mississippi and southeastern New Madrid counties also entered moderate drought, while abnormal dryness arrived in northern Iron, northern Madison, eastern Reynolds, and southwestern St François counties.

This week’s downgrades results in two out of three acres in Missouri experiencing drought, including 33.5 percent in severe or extreme drought. Areas in extreme drought remain unchanged from last week at 10.3 percent, while 19.6 percent of Missouri is in abnormal dryness.