Drought in Massac, Illinois

Following a very dry August, during which most of Southern Illinois receiving an inch of rain or less, including the driest August on record at Carbondale with 0.02, Severe Drought (D2) conditions developed in much of Southern Illinois during September. Northwestern portions of Southern Illinois, from Murphysboro to Mount Vernon, entered Severe Drought early September. Mid-month, Severe Drought expanded across the rest of Southern Illinois, except for Edwards and Wabash Counties. Heavy rainfall from the 20th-24th resulted in significant improvement in drought conditions with Severe Drought only continuing into October for the Murphysboro to Fairfield corridor which received near normal September rainfall, whereas Saline County had multiple sites record over 5 inches of rain in September. Agricultural impacts from the drought occurred heading into harvest season. Burn bans were briefly instituted in some areas as a result of the drought.