After months of widespread drought, Missouri's chronic soil dryness has significantly changed. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, nearly 95% of the state was experiencing some level of drought in the beginning of January. But by last week, that number had fallen below 20% following months of above-average rainfall.
Missouri State Climatologist Zach Leasor said repeated rounds of spring rain replenished soil moisture across much of the state, which improved conditions for many farmers.
“Sometimes we'll get remnants of a tropical cyclone that dump a foot of rainfall, or a really bad thunderstorm or flooding event where you can get a 10-inch rainfall,” Leasor said. “And so, when we do get those extreme events they do kind of overload the system, and you can go from very severe drought to flood”
But the recovery has not been uniform across all of Missouri. Parts of the Bootheel remain in long-term drought after just missing many of the spring storms, while drought has largely disappeared from northern and central Missouri. Elsewhere, farmers are now dealing with a different problem; too much rain.
For Anne Trokey, who farms near Odessa in west-central Missouri, this year has looked very different from last year, when her family had to begin feeding hay much earlier than usual.
“I had messaged my husband, and he was kinda like, ‘“What drought?'” Trokey said. “I mean when it’s so much rain it’s harder to get stuff done, it’s harder to plant, it’s harder to take care of the animals, equipment in and out.”
Leasor said saturated fields and standing water have delayed field work in some areas, highlighting how quickly weather conditions can shift during the growing season.
“It's been a little bit bizarre,” Leasor said, “in that southeast Missouri had its record-driest winter. And so the rest of the state we’ve seen a surplus, but they haven’t.”
Leasor said Missouri is entering the hottest part of the summer with much healthier soil moisture than it had a year ago. Still, he said temperatures in the nineties this week will increase evaporation, and drought conditions could return if the state experiences an extended stretch of hot, dry weather.
