Moderate drought now covers the KVOE listening area — and severe drought isn’t far away.
The latest weekly update from the US Drought Monitor changes the southern half of the KVOE listening area from abnormally dry, the mildest level of drought on the Drought Monitor scale, to moderate drought — the next level down. Severe drought, the third level on the Drought Monitor’s five-point scale, now covers far north Morris County and the northern two-thirds of Wabaunsee County.
This update dovetails with the latest announcement from the Kansas Water Office listing Lyon and most surrounding counties in a drought watch and Wabaunsee County, the only exception, in a drought warning.
The KVOE listening area has been virtually bone dry since 1-3 inches of rainfall Sept. 18-20. Showers Monday led to barely-measurable precipitation, and a marginal risk of severe weather Thursday evening includes up to 0.25 inches of rainfall. Dry conditions then return areawide until the middle of next week.