The stage is set for more spring flooding in Missouri, said University of Missouri Extension climatologist Pat Guinan. “A lot will depend on the weather patterns that set up over the region in the next few weeks,” he said.
Extremely wet soil conditions this past winter laid the groundwork for another troubled growing season in the agricultural world, Guinan said.
This was the third consecutive wet winter in Missouri, he said. It also ranked as the 19th-wettest winter in National Weather Service’s 125 years of records.
The degree of flooding potential depends in part on spring temperatures, which affect the speed of ice melting across the upper Midwest. To date, fluctuating temperatures have created an ideal slow melt, Guinan said.
The preliminary annual statewide precipitation average for Missouri in 2019 was 53.81 inches, making it the seventh-wettest year on record, Guinan says.
Courtesy of MU Extension.
