Above average rainfall in February brings an improved drought for the start of spring

Within the month of February, mid-Missouri experienced a more active weather pattern that brought some much needed rainfall across the state. Columbia receives an average 2.25″ of rain and 4.7″ of snowfall for the month of February. Although snowfall amounts fell short this month, rainfall did not.

Columbia received 2.99″ of rain from February 1st to the 28th, closing out the month .74″ above the average. However, snowfall was much harder to come by. This month Columbia received a mere .5″ of accumulating snow, which is 4.2″ below average. Regardless of the lack of winter precip, the increased rain helped drastically lift drought conditions across Missouri.

As of last week parts of the state were under a severe and extreme drought, but all of those areas have seen drastic improvements. Now we only see abnormally dry and moderate drought conditions across Missouri. Most of mid-Missouri is considered abnormally dry, but some counties still see a moderate drought in place.

With today being the official start of meteorological spring we can expect a more active weather pattern to shape up and more rainfall within the months to come. Typically within the month of March, Columbia receives 2.91″ of rain. Of course, snow can’t be ruled out quite yet! Average snowfall for March sits at 1.7″.