Another Southern Missouri Downgrade Realized In Drought Monitor

The U.S. Drought Monitor showed another sizeable downgrade in southern Missouri’s drought conditions.

The third level of drought, categorized as Extreme Drought, advanced by 16 percent and is now reported over a large area of southwest Missouri and then further east along the Missouri and Arkansas border. D2, or Severe Drought, dropped from 31 percent last week to 17 percent this week, but most of that drop is from the advance of former D2 territory to D3 territory. None of northern Missouri is in any dryness category at this time. This week’s U.S. Drought Monitor did not include the rains in the middle part of the week.

Iowa’s Drought Monitor stayed relatively the same. Pre-drought conditions did extend by 7 percent. Most of the southern tier of counties in Iowa remain out of any dryness category.