Three-fourths of Texas is now baking in exceptional drought, the worst level, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor released Thursday.
Three months ago, only 15 percent of the state was experiencing exceptional drought. One year ago, nearly 83 percent of the state was drought-free.October through June was the state's driest nine-month period on record, though the drought is still ranked No. 3 in state history, said state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon.If current conditions continue through July and August, the drought could surpass 1918 for second place; if they continue through September, it could approach the record-setter of 1956, he said. Official weather record-keeping began in 1895 in Texas.Already, nearly 96 percent of Texas is categorized as in extreme drought or higher.Only a "couple of corners" of the state have received above-average rainfall in July, after a June that was the hottest ever, Nielsen-Gammon said."It's not too unusual to have a dry July, but the bad part is that it's on top of a March through June that were all among the top 10 driest for those particular months," he said.Dallas-Fort Worth has had a scant 0.09 inch of rain in July, said meteorologist Jessie Moore of the National Weather Service's Fort Worth office.With Thursday's high of 102, DFW has sizzled through 20 consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures, tying for fifth place in the record book, according to the weather service. The region has now had 27 days of 100 degrees or higher in 2011.Although the region hasn't seen any record highs in July, record-high lows have been set or tied on six days, according to weather service data on its website, including a record-setting 83 on Thursday morning. Normal lows for July are about 74 degrees, Moore said.And there's no relief in sight, with 100-degree days forecast through Thursday, Moore said."We don't see any sign of rain coming in the next week and a half or so. We're expecting a drier-than-normal August with above-normal temperatures," he said. "At this point, it looks like we're going to stay hot and dry."The relentless heat has kept air conditioners and power-generating stations humming.June energy usage was 5 percent higher than in 2010, said Dottie Roark, spokeswoman for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. ERCOT broke a July record (64,226 megawatts) for peak demand July 14, she said."Before this year, our highest peak in July was 63,400 megawatts, and we've surpassed that on three days," Roark said.The drought is hammering the Texas agricultural industry, said Travis Miller, a Texas A&M professor and drought spokesman for the Texas AgriLife Extension Service."It's hard to find any dryland crops alive from San Angelo to Oklahoma," he said. "For irrigated crops, a lot of farmers are abandoning half of their fields because it's evaporating faster than the wells can pump it out."The drought is forcing cattle raisers to thin their herds."There's no grass, no hay, and they are flat running out of water," Miller said, noting that a San Angelo auction barn ran through 5,000 cows and 5,000 calves this week, three to four times its normal volume.Ranchers are being forced to haul in water, but that's a "losing game," Miller said."In this heat, it takes about 25 gallons a day per head. So if you had 400 head, that would take 10 trips with a 1,000-gallon water tank. And you have to be able find that much water," he said.By May 15, agricultural losses were estimated at $1.2 billion for livestock and $250 million for wheat, Miller said."That doesn't include the summer crops. And God knows how much we are losing on hay," he said. The next estimate on agricultural losses will be issued in mid-August.The drought has also ignited a record wildfire season.The Texas Forest Service says 15,188 wildfires have burned a record 3,327,484 acres since Nov. 15. More than 2,200 structures, including 591 homes, have burned.The agency responded Wednesday to eight new fires in West Texas and seven in East Texas.Steve Campbell, 817-390-7981Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
