Missouri Fighting Flash Drought: 1st Half Of May Saw Temps 4-6 Degrees Above Normal, No Real Rain

Climatologists and farmers are calling it a “flash drought” – a quick burst of dry heat that's parching plants and threatening the state's crops.

“It's rapidly emerging across the state,” said Pat Guinan, the University of Missouri extension's state climatologist, on Tuesday. “It started in the Bootheel, but over the past, two or three weeks, much of Missouri has seen negligible rain. We've had a lot of above-normal temperatures, low humidity and lots of sunshine. The moisture has just evaporated out of the vegetation.”

The conditions are threatening the state's vulnerable, young corn crop, and could mean a tough summer for all crop producers, as well as cattle ranchers and dairy farmers.

“If it stays dry for the next two to three weeks, we're going to see some die-offs,” Guinan said. “With temperatures in the next five days in the 90s, things could really tank.” Temperatures across Missouri were 4 to 6 degrees above normal and rainfall south of Interstate 70 is below normal for the first half of May. The Bootheel is already experiencing moderate to severe drought, but those conditions are creeping northward.

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