Thanks to a wet, albeit mild winter, nearly all of Missouri is free of any drought classification. However, much of Kansas is still mired in an extreme drought. More from Thursday’s update from the National Drought Monitor from KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro.
Three months ago, 80% of Missouri was abnormally dry, while 40% of that territory was moderately dry. During a stop last October at the Joplin campus of Crowder College, Missouri Governor Mike Parson said he was considering moving water to southwest Missouri farmers.
“So we’re going to everything we can at the state level to help provide. If that means more water resources, we’ll try to do that.”
Luckily it never came to that and today, over 95% of Missouri is drought-free. Much of that 5% is in Barton, Vernon, and Jasper Counties.
It’s a different story in Kansas, where over 85% of the Sunflower state is labeled in one of the five drought classifications. Almost 35% of it is in the worst category, exceptional drought.
Closer to home, only a small northern slice of Bourbon country in southeast Kansas is free of any drought classification. 99% of the 12 countries that comprise the area are considered to be in one of the five drought classifications. For 89 9 KRPS News, I’m Fred Fletcher-Fierro
