Welcome to "Extreme Drought"
The latest update to the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that most of Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois are now considered in "Extreme Drought", the second-worst category on the scale. Only one other state in the country, Georgia, has worse drought conditions.
Most everybody in Missouri is experiencing some level of drought conditions, except for a few pockets that are merely "Abnormally Dry." The dry heat over the last week has really taken a toll.
Southeast Missouri is running a deficit of at least 8 inches of rainfall for the year, with some areas short more than 12 inches.
The forecast doesn't offer much hope for the next month, with the long-range computer models projecting that we will probably see below-average rainfall for July. Based on trends from the last few months, we don't really need fancy computer models to tell us that.
Our only real hope for busting this drought soon would be a lucky deluge from the remnants of a hurricane moving north from the Gulf. Otherwise, I don't think we can count on significant widespread rain until September at the earliest.
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