The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor update for Missouri shows improvement for parts of our area, but conditions elsewhere in the state have worsened.

The weekly update from the National Drought Mitigation Center shows that as of Tuesday, enough moisture appeared along and south of U.S. Route 50 in Johnson, Morgan, western Moniteau, and Pettis counties to give those areas a reprieve from abnormal dryness. For our area, that’s the lone change for the week, as easternmost Saline, eastern Chariton, northernmost Cooper, and a majority of Macon and Randolph counties remain in moderate drought.

Elsewhere in Missouri, drought conditions worsened over the past week, with severe drought now appearing in five counties to the south and east of Joplin. 23.8 percent of Missouri is in some stage of drought, including 3.12 percent in severe drought. Another 44.08 percent is in abnormal dryness. That leaves 32.13 percent of Missouri in normal or excess moisture, a net decrease of 5.9 percent from last week.

The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Map courtesy of NDMC.