Drought in Texas reaches epic proportions

Posted Thursday, Aug. 04, 2011 0 comments  Print Reprints
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Why do you think we're rooting for DFW to break the all-time record of 42 days with 100 degree-plus temperatures?

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By Lee Williams

leewilliams@star-telegram.com

As temperatures reached 100 degrees for the 34th consecutive day in Dallas-Fort Worth, officials say that statewide, Texas is now experiencing the worst one-year drought on record.

July was the hottest month on record for Texas -- dating to 1895 -- according to John Nielsen-Gammon, the Texas State Climatologist and professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University.

The average temperature was 87.2 degrees, breaking the record of 86.5 degrees set in 1998, Nielsen-Gammon said.

Also, the official Dallas-Fort Worth temperature hit 107 Thursday afternoon, tying the record for the date set in 1951.

Thursday morning, the low dropped to only 86 degrees, which will be a record for the highest low temperature on an August 4th should it hold through midnight. The record is 83, set in 1980.

Other July statistics that show the severity of the drought:

■ The monthly rainfall total of 0.72 inches ranks as the third-driest, surpassing the 0.69 inches in 1980 and 2000.

■ The year-to-date rainfall total of 6.53 inches is the lowest ever, with the previous low being 9.36 inches set in 1917.

■ It's the driest 12 months ever ending in July with 15.16 inches or rain, eclipsing the previoous record of 16.46 inches in 1925.

"These statistics rank the current drought as the most severe one-year drought ever for Texas," Nielsen-Gammon said in a news release. "Never before has so little rain been recorded prior to and during the primary growing season for crops, plants and warm-season grasses."

To avoid breaking the record for the 12 driest consecutive months, set in 1956, Texas would need more than 4.5 inches of rain in the next two months, Nielsen-Gammon said.

"The climate division that covers west-central Texas has received only 3.32 inches of rainfall since Nov. 1," Nielsen-Gammon said. "That's less than 21 percent of the historical average and less than half of the previous record, set in 1956. Add in the record heat, and it's just devastating."

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