A rainy April has left enough green foliage in Fulton to get through one of the driest Mays in local history, but area officials worry that if we don't get some rain soon, that streak will dry up.
According to water.weather.gov, most spots in Callaway County averaged around a quarter of an inch of precipitation over the last 30 days - a sharp decrease from six to eight inches in May 2011.
Fulton Fire Department chief Dean Buffington said that April's showers have staved off the worst effects of the dry four weeks, so far.
"We're fairly fortunate that we greened up real good and it's still holding that," he said. "If this happened in August it'd be a different story, but four weeks without rain in the springtime is not so bad."
Jim Jarman, agronomy specialist with the University of Missouri Extension, saw a more grim future in store for Callaway's crops if the dry spell drags on. Jarman said that there was not enough precipitation over fall and winter to replenish moisture in the soil, and the lack of rain this spring wasn't helping matters.