Drought conditions in Missouri and Illinois have improved over the past few weeks thanks to the widespread rainfall both states saw in that time period.
The most recent map from the U.S. Drought Monitor, published Thursday, shows that much of central Missouri is no longer in extreme drought and that a large portion of Illinois is now just abnormally dry.
“Areas across Missouri and Illinois, parts of Iowa and Indiana received at least two inches of rainfall,” said Brad Pugh, who authored the most recent drought map. “That did help to improve drought conditions for many areas.”
The improvements came on the heels of rainfall that wasn’t too intense, said Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford. The ground cannot absorb all of the water from heavy rains, meaning a lot of that water runs off, he added.
“A lot of the places got rain that was over a number of hours,” he said. “Better soaking rains that were able to infiltrate the soil and improve our soil moisture conditions.”
Source: stlpublicradio.org
Photo Credit: science-photo-library-igor-stevanovic
Categories: Missouri, Weather