Drought Monitor Shows Slight Moisture Downgrade

The weekly Drought Monitor Report showed a slight decline in soil moisture in Missouri in relation to last week.

Most of the eastern three-quarters of the listening area in Missouri is now considered to be in Moderate Drought. The western quarter is in pre-drought conditions.

Overall, Missouri has 13 percent of territory without any moisture deficit. 34 percent is in the Pre-Drought category. 26 percent is now in Moderate Drought. That figure is the same as last week. 20 percent of Missouri territory has Severe, or D2, drought. That is up by 4 points from last week. D3, or Extreme Drought, is reported in 8 percent of Missouri territory. That’s up 1 percent from last week. Extreme Drought is found in 3 counties in northeast Missouri and parts of 9 counties in central Missouri. In southern Iowa, Decatur and Wayne counties report Moderate Drought. Areas further west are in pre-drought condition. Iowa has 43 percent of their state in Moderate Drought. They have 8 percent in Severe Drought and about 1 percent in Extreme Drought.