The newest U.S. Drought Monitor, released Thursday, shows much of the Lakes Region northwest of a Branson-Alpena line is at an Extreme Drought Level. That includes all of Barry and Stone Counties and the northern two-thirds of Taney County in Missouri as well as most of Carroll and Madison Counties in Arkansas.
The areas southeast of Branson as well as the Harrison/Boone County region remain at a Severe Drought Level with areas south of Harrison at lower levels but still experiencing dry conditions.
The areas of Extreme Drought are characterized by the Drought Monitor Criteria as astures being depleted, there are more insects than normal and trees show drought stress. Water shortages are also noted the water table is low, and stock ponds are dry.
There is some encouraging news heading farther into October. The national drought outlook indicates that improvement is expected across the through the end of the year, while the weather pattern associated with moisture from Hurricane Polo could bring beneficial rainfall into portions of the Lakes Region over the next few days.
