Current drought conditions update

Each week for the past month, drought conditions have continued to worsen with extreme drought encompassing more of Mid-Missouri.

Typically by October 23rd Columbia Missouri sees a total of 35.86" of rainfall. This year, the current total is 6.7" less at 29.16".

By the end of the month, the month of October in Mid-Missouri typically sees 3.47". So far, latest totals for 2023 has us a 1.51" of rainfall for the month. Although Central Missouri is very far behind on our monthly total, there is hope for a near average month as 2"-3" of additional rainfall is expected within the next week.

With extreme drought increasing, even if Mid-Missouri saw another 6.7" of rain within a two week span (hypothetically speaking) this would not end our current drought. It would take several weeks to months of consistent above average rain to get us back to normal conditions to properly saturate the soil affectively.

Into the extended forecast, above average rainfall trends are once again expected as the upper-level jet stream shows various low pressure systems moving through the region. This will help eat away at some of the drought getting Mid-Missouri closer to normal heading into this winter.