Southeast Texas Drought Information
Drought conditions are expected to persist or worsen into the summer
across Southeast Texas.
across Southeast Texas.
The Drought Information Statement is a summary of the current state of the drought, including precipitation deficits, local impacts, outlooks, and other information. A statement is issued when severe drought (D2) is occurring within the NWS Houston/Galveston area of re
South: Texas continues to suffer from unprecedented drought. Climate data show that the Lone Star State is in its driest ten-month period ever on record, in over a century of data. This is unprecedented territory, as the precipitation deficits mount, and triple digit temperatures continue to increase water demand. Significant, ongoing impacts related to agriculture, water supply and natural vegetation conditions have been reported. Widespread Exceptional Drought (D4) is maintained in large part across the region. ...DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT......UPPER LEVEL RIDGING SUPPRESSES RAIN
OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS...
...HOUSTON HAS GONE 198 DAYS BETWEEN ONE INCH RAIN EVENTS...
...AUGUST 2011 ON PACE TO SMASH WARMEST MONTH EVER
BY TWO TO THREE DEGREES...
SYNOPSIS...
A STRONG AND PERSISTENT UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE DOMINATED
AREA WEATHER THROUGH THE FIRST TEN DAYS OF AUGUST. ISOLATED SHOWERS
DEVELOPED ALONG THE SEA BREEZE ON AUGUST 1ST AND AND AGAIN ON THE
6TH AND THE 7TH...BUT MOST AREAS REMAINED DRY. THE WESTERN THIRD OF
THE REGION HAS REALLY BEGUN TO DRY OUT. COLLEGE STATION HAS ONLY
RECEIVED A TENTH OF AN INCH OF RAIN SINCE JUNE 23RD. SOMERVILLE AND
WASHINGTON STATE PARK HAVE RECEIVED LESS THAN A QUARTER INCH OF RAIN
OVER THE LAST SIX WEEKS. THE LACK OF RAIN HAS BEEN MADE MORE ACUTE
BY THE INTENSE HEAT WHICH HAS PLAGUED THE AREA. INLAND OBSERVATION
SITES ARE CONSISTENTLY REACHING OR EXCEEDING 100 DEGREES EACH
AFTERNOON. MOST OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS REMAINS ON PACE TO RECORD THEIR
WARMEST AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE FOR AUGUST AND OBLITERATE THE
WARMEST AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED. THE WARMEST
AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OCCURRED IN AUGUST OF 2010.
THE LAST 365 DAYS ARE CURRENTLY THE DRIEST ON RECORD FOR THE CITY OF
HOUSTON. IT IS THE FOURTH DRIEST PERIOD ON RECORD FOR HOUSTON HOBBY
AIRPORT...COLLEGE STATION AND THE CITY OF GALVESTON AND THE NINTH
DRIEST FOR DANEVANG. BELOW ARE THE DETAILS:
DRIEST AUGUST 10 - AUGUST 9 (365 DAYS)
YEAR IS THE ENDING DATE
RAINFALL DEFICITS BEGAN SHORTLY AFTER HURRICANE IKE IN 2008.
SOUTHEAST TEXAS RAINFALL WAS BELOW NORMAL IN 2009 AND WELL BELOW
NORMAL IN 2010. THIS DROUGHT HAS BEEN IN THE MAKING FOR SEVERAL
YEARS. HOUSTON HOBBY AIRPORT IS APPROACHING A 21 INCH RAINFALL
DEFICIT FOR THIS YEAR ALONE AND GALVESTON IS SUFFERING A RAINFALL
DEFICIT GREATER THAN 30 INCHES OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS.
2011 HAS BEEN VERY DRY AND IT IS CURRENTLY THE DRIEST YEAR TO DATE
ON RECORD. BELOW ARE THE FIVE DRIEST JANUARY 1 THROUGH AUGUST 10:
THE CITY OF HOUSTON HAS NOW GONE 198 CONSECUTIVE DAYS BETWEEN 1.00
RAIN EVENTS (JAN 24 2011). THIS IS NOW THE LONGEST STREAK IN CITY
HISTORY. THE PREVIOUS LONGEST DURATION BETWEEN 1.00 RAIN EVENTS WAS
192 DAYS AND OCCURRED DURING THE FALL AND WINTER OF 1917-1918.
ALTHOUGH 2011 HAS BEEN EXTREMELY DRY...THE LAST SEVEN MONTHS HAVE
BEEN DOWNRIGHT ARID. REMOVING A RELATIVELY WET JANUARY REVEALS JUST
HOW DRY THE REGION HAS BEEN. WHAT IS STRIKING...IS THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE DRIEST PERIOD (2011) AND THE SECOND DRIEST PERIOD.
HOUSTON WOULD NEED OVER FIVE INCHES OF RAIN TO DROP BACK INTO SECOND
PLACE. QUITE AMAZING! DANEVANG...GALVESTON AND COLLEGE STATION HAVE
ENDURED THEIR SECOND DRIEST FEB-JULY ON RECORD.AS OF AUGUST 9TH 2011...THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR SHOWED ALMOST ALL OF OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS IN D-4 OR EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT. A SMALL PORTION OF CHAMBERS COUNTY REMAINS IN D-2 STATUS BUT THE WESTERN HALF OF CHAMBERS COUNTY HAS AGAIN BEEN DOWNGRADED TO D-3 AND D-4 STATUS. THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF LIBERTY COUNTY IS AGAIN CLASSIFIED AS D-4 BUT THE REST OF THE COUNTY IS D-3. HOUSTON COUNTY HAS AGAIN BEEN
CLASSIFIED AS D-4. THE REST OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS REMAINS CLASSIFIED AS
EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT.
BELOW IS A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF EACH DROUGHT CLASSIFICATION:
D4 EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT - EXCEPTIONAL OR WIDESPREAD CROP/PASTURE LOSS
A SHORTAGE OF WATER IN RESERVOIRS AND STREAMS CREATING
A WATER EMERGENCY.
D3 EXTREME DROUGHT - MAJOR CROP OR PASTURE LOSSES. WIDESPREAD WATER
SHORTAGES AND RESTRICTIONS.
D2 SEVERE DROUGHT - CROP OR PASTURE LOSSES LIKELY. SOME WATER
SHORTAGES COMMON AND SOME WATER RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED.
D1 MODERATE DROUGHT - SOME DAMAGE TO CROPS AND PASTURES. RESERVOIRS
OR WELLS LOW. VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED.
D0 ABNORMALLY DRY - SHORT TERM DRYNESS. PLANT GROWTH SLOWS. MINOR
WATER DEFICITS.
AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS...
HAY PRODUCTION REMAINS EXTREMELY LIMITED. ACROSS THE STATE OF
TEXAS...94 PERCENT OF PASTURE OR RANGELAND IS RATED AS POOR OR IN
VERY POOR CONDITION. LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS CONTINUED TO CULL HERDS AND
IN SOME SITUATIONS COMPLETELY LIQUIDATE HERDS. COTTON HARVESTS
CONTINUE WITH GENERALLY FAIR YIELDS. LARGE TREES WERE DYING ACROSS
SOUTHEAST TEXAS. WATER DIVERSION FOR THE LOWER BRAZOS RIVER HAS BEEN
SUSPENDED FOR ALL USES EXCEPT FOR MUNICIPAL AND LIVESTOCK WATERING.
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