This weekend’s rainfall was sorely needed in parts of three area counties that returned to moderate drought in the most recent U.S. Drought Monitor.

The weekly update from the National Drought Mitigation Center found that the first stage of drought conditions resumed in the past week through eastern Chariton and most of Randolph County, along with southern and central Macon County. Parts of eight other counties in Northeast Missouri were in this stage of drought, accounting for nearly six percent of Missouri, up 2.8 percentage points from last week.

Other areas in our region that were abnormally dry were unchanged from last week. 32.6 percent of Missouri is now in abnormal dryness, leaving 61.5 percent of the state with normal or excess moisture. The weekend’s rainfall is expected to reflect in the next drought monitor update scheduled for Thursday morning.

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.