Drought — Cooper, Missouri

2023-05-02 to 2023-05-31 · Cooper, Missouri

Event narrative

By early May conditions had become much drier from the wet early start to early spring. By mid to late spring the area became deficit of normal rainfall by several inches, resulting in a declaration of severe (D2) drought. By May 9, extreme (D3) was declared due to the ongoing dry conditions. Impacts from this drought still appear to be minor, but drought conditions worsened as it went into June.

Wider weather episode

After a pretty wet late winter and early spring a fairly prolonged dry spell caused areas of western into central Missouri to fall well behind seasonal normal rainfall. By early May severe drought was declared for a number of counties across Missouri. As of at least late May there were no widespread impacts from this drought. Drought conditions worsened into early June.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1092917. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.