Brown grass from drought not dead, but dormant

For nearly a month, Mid-Missouri has seen little in the way of rain. The last time any significant measurable rain fell across the region was on May 20, when more than an inch of rain covered Mid-Missouri. Since then, brutal heat has built into Mid-Missouri that has not only taken a toll on yards, but plants as well.

Thanks to several consecutive days of seeing 95-plus degree days, plants are beginning to wilt due to heat stress and yards are turning brown thanks to the lack of water. While this will have many concerned that their yard is beginning to die, this isn’t the case. Grass turning brown is actually a defense mechanism, which allows them to lie dormant until rains revive them.

The heat and lack of rain certainly hasn’t just affected nature, as numerous people have been taken to the hospital for heat related illnesses. Information provided by NOAA shows that heat is the number 1 weather related killer in the US for the past 30 years and with a warming climate, that’s likely to only get worse.

Thankfully, the stagnant upper level ridge is finally set to depart Mid-Missouri as it pulls off to the east. This will open the door for a stationary boundary to our north ot pull through the region and bring a very active weather pattern to the region. Thanks to the heat that’s built into the region, we could see a few strong storms from Tuesday into Wednesday. Any storms that go severe will bring the threat for heavy rains, frequent lightning, quarter size hail, and damaging winds.

Even better news will be the cooler temperatures that will build into the region, on top of the multiple days of storms that we’ll see. This will help alleviate the drought concerns and return many yards back to the beautiful green lawns we have all come to love.

Stay with ABC 17 News as we continue to track the storm chances and follow us on Twitter @ABC17Stormtrack.