Yellow: abnormally dry Tan: moderate drought
A Missouri weather expert says we should finally emerge from long-term drought sometime this fall. Chairman Tony Lupo of the University of Missouri Department of Atmospheric Science says two major atmospheric changes will make the difference: an end to “ridging” in the eastern Pacific and western US, and a shift from La Nina to El Nino in the fall. Lupo says those two factors will wipe out the drought by the end of this year.
At its height in August of 2012, 100 percent of Missouri was in drought, and nearly 36 percent of the state was in the worst drought category, exceptional drought.