Almost all of Macon County is free of abnormal dryness on the latest U.S. Drought Monitor map, a sharp change from a week earlier when most of the county was still marked D0.
The Macon Chronicle reported last week that the map valid Sept. 15 showed 85.67% of the county in the D0 abnormally dry category and 14.33% with no dryness classification. The new map, released Thursday and valid Sept. 22 through Sept. 28, shows 99.65% of the county with no dryness classification and only 0.35% still in D0, according to U.S. Drought Monitor county statistics for Macon County.
That is a drop of more than 85 percentage points in the share of the county labeled abnormally dry in a single weekly map update. A thin remnant of D0 remains on the county statistics sheet, but it covers less than half of 1% of Macon County's land area.
No part of Macon County is in moderate, severe, extreme, or exceptional drought. Those categories begin at D1. Abnormal dryness is not a drought category under the monitor. The county has not appeared in D1 or worse on the recent weekly maps Chariton has tracked this month.
The national Drought Monitor analysis for the Midwest said northern Missouri was wet enough last week to improve drought conditions there, while southern Missouri stayed generally hot and dry. The analysis also noted that northeastern Kansas and northern Missouri received 3 to 5 inches of rain during the period covered by the map. Some southern Missouri areas deteriorated under continued heat, the summary said.
The Drought Monitor's current-map page lists the map as released Sept. 24 with data valid Sept. 22. Monitor maps are based on analysis through each Tuesday and are released on Thursdays, according to the site.
Macon County's path on the map this month has been toward improvement after a stretch when the whole county sat in D0. The Chronicle reported Sept. 11 that the map valid Sept. 8 showed 100% of the county abnormally dry. The Sept. 15 map cut that share to about 86%. Thursday's map takes the remaining D0 footprint down to a trace.
Long Branch State Park's public swim beach remains closed for the season, according to Missouri Department of Natural Resources beach data. The latest Long Branch sample row is dated Aug. 31 and marked closed for the season.