Drought in Morgan, Ohio

Across the bulk of southeast Ohio, severe (D2) to exceptional (D4) drought conditions carried over from August into the beginning of September. Little rainfall occurred during the first three weeks of the month which allowed the drought to progressively worsen.

At the beginning of the month, D4 had already established residence in Athens and Meigs Counties. A continued lack of rain over the next couple of weeks resulted in an expansion of D4 into Perry, Morgan, and Vinton Counties as well. A couple inches of rain that fell along the Ohio River did allow for a slight improvement in Meigs County. Outside of the D4 area, the rest of southeast Ohio's counties, or at least portions of each county, experienced extreme drought (D3).

Impacts reported during the height of the drought included below normal stream flows, dry wells, some fish kills, stunted crop growth, livestock sales due to a lack of hay, water hauling, and an increase in fire danger.

Late in the month, the remnants of Hurricane Helene finally brought rain to parts of southeast Ohio. This desperately needed rain finally allowed for one to two category improvements primarily in the vicinity of the Ohio River. Meanwhile, D3 to D4 persisted into October for parts of Perry, Morgan, Washington, Athens, Vinton, Meigs, and the northern fringes of Jackson and Gallia Counties.