Current Impacts
To see or report current drought impacts, please visit the Drought Impacts Toolkit, where you can find impacts from media in the Drought Impact Reporter and from citizen scientists and other volunteer observers under Condition Monitoring Observations.
Historic Impacts
No two states have the same experience during a drought. Below are examples of some of the impacts experienced in Missouri in the past. The process for developing this example impact table is described in Noel, M., Bathke, D., Fuchs, B., Gutzmer, D., Haigh, T., Hayes, M., Poděbradská, M., Shield, C., Smith, K. and Svoboda, M., 2020. Linking drought impacts to drought severity at the state level. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 101(8), pp.E1312-E1321. doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-19-0067.1. To view a more complete record, and to filter impacts by drought severity, sector and season, check out the interactive State Impacts Tool.
| Category | Examples of historically observed impacts |
|---|
| D0 | Canoe business declines |
| Fires increase |
| Landscaping is stressed; lawns are brown; birds show signs of stress |
| Pasture and row crop growth is stunted; planting is delayed |
| River levels decline |
| D1 | Fire threat increases; burn bans begin |
| Pond and river levels decline |
| Topsoil is dry; corn yield is small; pastures are not growing; crops are stressed |
| Urban watering is extensive |
| D2 | Soil cracks are large and deep; corn and soybeans are cut for silage |
| Surface water levels are very low; low reservoirs are noticeable; voluntary city water restrictions are requested |
| Trees are stressed |
| Vegetable produce is smaller and yields are decreased |
| D3 | Building foundation damage occurs |
| Burn bans are common; fires spread easily |
| Corn is high in nitrates; major crop loss is reported; hay and water for cattle is limited; hay is expensive; producers are hauling water |
| Mature tree death is common; insect populations decrease; fish kills occur |
| Ponds are dried; wells are drying; large lakes and reservoirs are extremely low; mandatory water restrictions are implemented |
| D4 | Agriculture loss is widespread |
| Bird hunting decreases |
| Cattle sales increase; cattle are lighter at auctions; producers are culling; premature birthing is reported |
| Landscape goes dormant |
| People are digging deeper and more wells, extending pipelines; Lack of hydropower causes electrical failures |
| People are in a state of desperation |