Drought conditions have grown in portions of Missouri over the past few weeks, and according to the latest forecast are set to persist through the rest of the year.

The long-range seasonal outlook released Thursday calls for drought conditions in northern Missouri to remain in place and possibly intensify through the end of the year.  Brian Fuchs is with the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.  He says this week's rainfall may bring short-term relief, but not long-term.

"Unless it's a historical rain event like what we saw out in Colorado, it's really hard to say that one rain's gonna really change the course of action as far as drought goes," Fuchs said.  "It typically takes several good rain events to add enough moisture into the system...(the forecast) still shows northern Missouri, southern Iowa and western Illinois holding onto a drought situation through the end of this year…we may see some relief, but I don’t see the drought situation being totally eliminated."

Drought conditions are not being forecast for the Show-Me State south of the Missouri River.  However, the latest drought monitor shows that abnormally dry conditions have developed in southwestern Missouri.

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