JEFFERSON CITY, MO. – The state climatologist said Missouri is currently experiencing a one-in-20-year drought event and the precipitation outlook to recover from this drought doesn’t look promising.
The dry stretch from April through November is the seventh-driest growing season since 1895. This drought has impacted farmers, livestock, and navigation along the rivers and now there’s a concern for power plants and drinking water.
“Really, six of the last eight months have featured below-normal precipitation,” state climatologist Zach Leasor said. “While this has been a drought year, we also had the drought of 2022. When we combine those years, we get some very large precipitation deficits.”
Portions of Missouri continue to feel the effects of a multi-year drought as winter nears. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 99.8% of the state is experiencing drought conditions, with less than 2% of Missouri in an extreme drought. Parts of central and northeast Missouri are in an extreme drought.
Farmers were left to make tough decisions, sending cattle to market early due to a lack of feed. The agriculture industry is now in the off-season, hoping for recharging of the soil.
“Along that line, the good weather has probably helped us on hay feeding just because you feed a lot less hay when it’s 50 degrees outside than you do when it’s 20 degrees,” Missouri Department of Agriculture Deputy Director Chris Klenklen shared.
Last month, Parson extended the executive order declaring a drought alert for the majority of the state. He initially signed the order on May 31, 2023, but now it will run until May 1, 2024. The executive order activates the Drought Assessment Committee.
With one of the driest growing seasons in the last century, the Drought Assessment Committee, made up of state and federal agencies, is concerned.
“The lack of autumn rain has really put us in a vulnerable position as the soil starts to freeze and therefore really limiting that recharge of soil moisture,” Missouri Department of Natural Resources Director Dru Buntin explained.
Leasor said during Tuesday’s meeting that, besides above-normal temperatures every month this year, the average deficit of rainfall is nearly 10 inches.
“That roughly makes the return period for this April through November dryness about 18.4 years, which is approximately a one-in-20-year event,” Leasor added.
With near-record-low levels expected along the Mississippi River in the coming weeks, products will have to be transported by rail and trucks if barges can no longer travel the waterways.
“One barge equals 16 rail cars,” Levi Woods with MoDOT said. “One barge is also equivalent to 70 tractor trailer roads. So, you can see the impact it might have on those.”
Some drinking water facilities said they are seeing an impact from this drought, leaving a handful of those systems to change operations to make sure there is adequate drinking water.
“No one is in emergency status right now, but they are starting to see impacts from the prolonged drought,” DNR Public Drinking Water Branch chief David Lamb said. “As far as general concerns, probably one that we heard the most about was the ice jams along the river.”
In order to make up the rainfall deficit by next spring, Leasor said portions of the state would need 18 inches of rainfall by March. He said there’s less than a 1% chance of that happening, looking at recent years.
During October’s Drought Assessment Committee meeting, the National Weather Service said it’s been nearly a century since Missouri has seen anything like this. Mark Fuchs with NWS told the group in October that some parts of the state have been in a continuous drought for nearly two years.
The Department of Agriculture does offer a mental health resource for the farming community. The AgriStress hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Producers can call or text 833-897-2474 to speak to a healthcare professional.
DNR is asking Missouri residents to submit information about the local drought conditions online. Buntin said this can help the committee create more accurate maps, allowing members to work better with state and federal partners.
https://droughtimpacts.unl.edu/Tools/ConditionMonitoringObservations.aspx
DNR also has a variety of resources online and continues to add information on drought mitigation and assistance opportunities.
The Drought Assessment Committee plans to meet again early next year.
