Last week’s relentless rainfall eliminated significant amounts of drought and abnormal dryness across Missouri.

The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor update from USDA shows an end to drought conditions as of Tuesday, April 8, for central and southwest Missouri, as these areas were upgraded to abnormal dryness. That includes Howard, Randolph, eastern Chariton, eastern Saline, and northern Cooper counties. However, a seven-county area of Northeast Missouri, including the northern third of Macon County, remains in drought. Drought continues to cover 3.13 percent of Missouri’s acreage.

Nearly all of Saline County remains abnormally dry, as does Carroll, Howard, Lafayette, and Randolph counties. Most of Chariton and Livingston, along with southern Benton, northern Johnson, southern Macon, southern Morgan, northwestern Pettis, and eastern Ray counties, are in abnormal dryness. 33.83 percent of the state is in this stage of dryness that is technically not considered drought by the monitor, while 63.04 percent of Missouri has normal or excess moisture.

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.