Ticks, heavy rain and excessive warmth have an effect on Columbia’s summer season | Mid-Missouri Information

An invasion of ticks, durations of heavy rain and a relentless string of 90-degree days are including nervousness and discomfort to summer season in Columbia. 

Climate change is taken into account to be a serious explanation for the extreme rainstorms, longer durations of utmost warmth and an expanded vary of disease-carrying ticks which have plagued mid-Missouri since April. 

Two main storms set data for rainfall this summer season, brought about flash flooding and prompted a number of emergency rescues.

Excessive warmth continued to make late summer season oppressive, with stretches of days over 90 levels and extra predicted to be forward. 

Both the warmth and moist situations created an excellent breeding floor for ticks, inflicting extra journeys to the emergency room and alarm concerning the rising presence of alpha-gal syndrome.

Here is a rundown of the patterns that significantly affected dwelling situations this summer season within the metropolis.

Above-normal rainfall

Rain in May measured 8.35 inches, and the following month noticed 8.51 inches of rain, marking the ninth wettest June in historical past for Columbia.

Overall, rainfall between June and August was 3.14 inches above common, in accordance with Jayson Gosselin, a National Weather Service meteorologist in St. Louis.    

Two data have been set for essentially the most rainfall since 1889 — one on June 8, with 3.98 inches, and one other on Aug. 7, with 3.28 inches.

“It is part of a broader observation that we’ve seen over the last couple decades, where individual events can be very heavy rainfall producers,” Gosselin stated.

The June 8 rainfall brought about widespread flooding, and each Columbia and county firefighters rescued a number of folks attempting to navigate the floodwaters from automobiles. 

Scorching September warmth 

An ongoing streak of days within the 90s began on the finish of August and is predicted to proceed for an additional week in Columbia. Altogether, the warmth wave might final 12 days.

According to Gosselin, that is uncommon for early September.

“When the first seven or 10 days are up of the month, this likely will be one of the top five or top 10 warmest starts to September on record,” he stated.

An earlier string of scorching days occurred between Aug. 9 and Aug. 15, averaging 93 levels. And the humidity averaged 79% throughout that very same interval, in accordance with the National Weather Service.

“But if you just look at June through August, we did actually have below-normal 90-degree days,” Gosselin stated. “Now we’re making up for it.”

A growth in ticks 

There is not any low season for ticks, however a lot of the summer season in Missouri may very well be thought of peak season for the biters. 

Emergency room visits for tick bites within the Midwest area, which incorporates Missouri, almost doubled in April 2026 in comparison with the earlier yr, in accordance with knowledge from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Milder winters imply fewer ticks freeze and die, and tick species are increasing into new places. Missouri’s hotter winters, early springs and excessive humidity are fueling the growth, in accordance with MU Extension.

The ticks have grow to be extra energetic earlier within the yr and stick round later within the fall. Numbers usually peak in June and July, with canines and deer carrying them round.

With the rise in ticks has come rising worry about alpha-gal syndrome, brought on by a chew from the lone star tick and triggering allergic reactions to purple meat.  

Emily Althoff, extension entomologist for MU, known as Missouri a hotbed for ticks, particularly the lone star tick. It is among the most aggressive species in Missouri, the commonest tick and might be discovered all through the state. 

“You can find the lone star tick in a lot of different places,” she stated in an earlier information launch this yr. “It can be in tall grasses, weeds and bushy areas. It is not just the woods.”