Early onset drought worsens as extreme category expands locally

The Midwest continues to experience the brunt of this summer's drought, as extreme dry conditions expand locally. Nearly a quarter of the state of Missouri is under extreme drought, indicating potential agricultural losses and drying of waterways.

This summer has seen a particularly early uptick in drought for our region. A drought of this magnitude is not typically seen until late summertime, as conditions dry up through the hot season. However, this year Mid-MO began the summer dry, leading to a rapid onset of drought that was further enhanced by the dry season ahead.

Drought has also recently been focused in other parts of the country, especially the West. This isn't the case this year due to productive atmospheric rivers in the wintertime bringing abundant rainfall, but this is very atypical in those areas. This time last year, the drought monitor was a mirror image of today, with the West seeing extreme drought while the Midwest and East fared better.