A week of wetter weather has done little to erase the ongoing drought in the area.

Rainfall that fell two weeks ago was very welcome and, in some areas, very generous. Two big waves of rainfall dumped in excess of 5" over a broad swath of Southwest Missouri and Northwest Arkansas. Heavy amounts were more spotty to the north and east, but many locations received at least a few inches. Two-week totals in many spots were well over 200% of normal for that timeframe.

This is all good news, and it appears to have greatly slowed the early leaf drop that will likely impact fall color this year.

But a drought typically takes time to get out of once it sets in. Looking at the data across Missouri and Arkansas. We find that in Missouri, the extreme drought label across the Southeast corner of the

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