Insider Blog: Drought grows despite recent rain

Drought has been the name of the game in Mid-MO for the majority of this year. Dry conditions first crept into the area in late spring and this same drought has now followed us to the winter. Heavy rain events have been hard to come by with every month this year (August aside) receiving less than average rainfall. This has all amounted to a long-lasting drought that has cost the state an estimated $250 to $500 million.

When dry conditions creep in it's harder to flush it back out. Missouri would not only need to catch up on missing rainfall from past months but more above-average rain will be needed to begin offsetting the drought. While forecasts for early winter hinted at chances for an active and wet season, this pattern has yet to start up. We are expected to remain near average precipitation through the end of the year, meaning drought will also be with us til the end of 2023 as well.

The setup of an El Nino pattern for the season ahead could still work in our favor; this generally brings milder and wetter winters to the Midwest. But this general trend from El Nino is still yet to be seen and it will require repeated rounds of soaking rain to begin flushing out the drought.