Drought relief is nowhere in sight for Mid-Missouri

Drought conditions across Mid-Missouri show no signs of letting up as we head into the coming days. The lack of rain has definitely been evident since the start of September, continuing the trend of below average rain. While Mid-Missouri has seen many areas just shy of seven inches of rain since the start of meteorological fall, when you look at the deficit it becomes worrisome.

Since September 1, Mid-Missouri is nearly 5 inches in the hole when it comes to rain. To paint an even bleaker picture, if we were to rewind back to the start of June, most areas would be pushing anywhere from a seven to eight inch deficit. It’s this lack of rain that is leading to worsening drought conditions across the region.

That wasn’t the case earlier in the year, where a large portion of the state was dealing with flooding. After seeing an excess of nearly seven inches of rain in the spring, rain has been hard to come by outside of an abnormally wet October.

The drought monitor which is updated weekly, shows a large portion of Mid-Missouri under dry conditions, with a severe drought expanding into the area from the south. Areas near Interstate 44 are already seeing the implications of the severe drought.

The drought conditions combined with low relative humidity, windy conditions, and dry vegetation will lead to an elevated fire risk for Monday. It’s strongly discouraged to burn when this conditions are present, as it will allow for wildfires to spread rapidly.

Unfortunately trends keep us on the dry side through at least the next two weeks. The Climate Prediction Center continues to show an increased confidence in seeing below average precipitation leading up to Christmas. Rainfall amounts through the next two weeks usually total just under half an inch, and it doesn’t even look like we’ll squeeze that out of the atmosphere.

While we have seen several cold fronts track through Mid-Missouri, they have largely been dry frontal passages. Moisture has been pretty lackluster for quite some time and until we see a shift in the weather pattern, Mid-Missouri will continue to see drought conditions worsen.

It could potentially have implications on the growing season as we head into 2018.

Stay with ABC17Stormtrack weather as we continue to monitor the drought situation expanding into the region and follow us on Twitter @ABC17Stormtrack.