The latest drought monitor from the National Weather Service from this past Thursday has been released. It doesn’t show much change from the previous map, except that the area of Severe Drought has been expanded slightly to the south and east. All of Wayne County is now shown under Severe Drought conditions, along with all of Jefferson, Franklin, Marion, Clay, Richland and Lawrence counties and several counties to the north. Far southern and southeastern Illinois is under a Moderate Drought. Areas near Champaign and to the north are not considered under any drought or dry conditions.
The latest forecast is calling for fairly dry conditions through most of next week. Colder temperatures are expected as we usher in the year 2024, with highs near 40 and lows in the lower 20s. Much of the immediate area saw its first snowfall earlier this week, amounting to a dusting on grassy surfaces in most areas. The extended forecast, which runs into the 2nd week of January, show near normal temperatures expected, along with near normal precipitation in the 6 to 10 day outlook, and a chance of above normal precipitation in the 8 to 14 day outlook.
As far as area river stages, they remain on the low side as of this morning. The Little Wabash River east of Fairfield is at 5.25 feet. Flood stage is 17 feet. At Clay City the stage is 5.3 feet. Flood stage is 18 feet. At Carmi the river is at 4.29 feet. Flood stage is 27 feet. The Skillet Fork at Wayne City is at 5.89 feet. Flood stage is 15 feet. The Wabash River at Mt. Carmel is at 3.12 feet. Flood stage is 19 feet. Bonpas Creek at Browns is at 1.58 feet as of this morning.