Texas Drought - Then and Now

[southerngale]

What a difference a year makes!

Thanks, somethingfunny, for the image.

[South Texas Storms]

Praise the Lord!

[somethingfunny]

Thanks South Texas Storms, whom I got the image from before giving it to southerngale!

[weatherdude1108]

Much better shape than last year from a soil moisture standpoint! From a hydrological (lake level) standpoint, we are in worse shape than last year.

There is a non-irrigated vacant lot next to my office that I use as a gauge for how dry or wet it is. It is full of overgrown green weeds and wildflowers, though struggling a bit with every passing day/week without rain. Last year at this time, that field was tinder dry brown. If sunlight shined on it the wrong way, a fire could have started!

We've gone two steps forward, but one step back from a soil moisture standpoint during the last month and a half, at least down in South Central Texas. I'm thinking the drought is going to get worse before it gets better based on the climatological time of year, unless of course we actually get a good tropical system soaker (instead of another empty promise forecast of one based on some wishy washy models), with subsequent regular rains to move things in the right direction again.

[Stephanie]

That's wonderful.

[weatherdude1108]

Looks like we are taking a few steps back.

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/Drought/

[vbhoutex]

Looks like we are taking a few steps back.

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/Drought/

I think it is more like leaps backwards. We have had a grand total of 0.40" of rain at my house in W. Houston this November and last month was 0.97". I DO NOT LIKE THE TREND. This is DEJA VU!!

[weatherdude1108]

Maybe if we put enough of these, we'll moisten up and cool off the atmosphere.

[vbhoutex]

Looks like we are taking a few steps back.

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/Drought/

I think it is more like leaps backwards. We have had a grand total of 0.40" of rain at my house in W. Houston this November and last month was 0.97". I DO NOT LIKE THE TREND. This is DEJA VU!!

And the trend continues. 0.55" at my house for November. At this rate we will be inot extreme drought again in no time.

Trying to help out here!!

[weatherdude1108]

Looks like we are taking a few steps back.

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/Drought/

I think it is more like leaps backwards. We have had a grand total of 0.40" of rain at my house in W. Houston this November and last month was 0.97". I DO NOT LIKE THE TREND. This is DEJA VU!!

And the trend continues. 0.55" at my house for November. At this rate we will be inot extreme drought again in no time.

Trying to help out here!!

I'm with the Austin airport and Camp Mabry on the 0.00" of rain at my house. Not even a TRACE. It drizzled and misted a couple times, but not enough even for a lousy trace.

I guess the silver lining (assuming there is one any more) would be that last Fall and Winter were predicted to by drier and warmer than average. It ended up being cooler and wetter. This year, it was predicted to be cool and wet, and the opposite is happening.

I guess whatever the experts predict, I'll assume the opposite is going to happen.
Maybe we'll have a wet December through February. Trying to help as well. Maybe if we get enough people helping, something will give, like moisture condensation in the air.

[weatherdude1108]

Interesting link about drought I found:

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/qadroughts.html

[vbhoutex]

We are back into the moderate to severe drought categories in the Houston metro area and it sure isn't looking good for relief. This month so far I have had less than 0.50" at the house and February was less than 2". Now the predictions for the next 3 months are saying we are going to continue to be dry so.....??

[weatherdude1108]

We just need a drought-busting tropical storm to fall in the right areas of the watershed. That would be a start. If Tropical Storm Hermine fell over the Hill Country upstream of Travis and Buchanan, we'd likely have a lot more water in reserve than we do.

Of course also, if LCRA hadn't released more water in the megaheat/drought/misery of 2011 to downstream farmers, we would be in a different water storage situation. They released more water to the rice farmers than all of the municipalities used in that year combined. Now for the second year in a row, the farmers are getting little if any downstream releases because of very little inflow into the lake system and low/lowering lake levels. Not sure why the farmers grow rice in a climate like this, but whatever.

Evaporation was also higher in the lakes that year (2011) than all of the water used/released in the Highland Lakes chain, at least by the cities. Live and learn I guess.

Here is an exerpt from today's LCRA River Report:

http://www.lcra.org/water/conditions/river_report.html
"Streamflow Conditions above the Highland Lakes

Above Lake Buchanan the Colorado River near San Saba is flowing at 41 cfs. Above Lake LBJ the Llano River at Llano is flowing at 58 cfs while Sandy Creek near Kingsland is flowing at 13 cfs. Above Lake Travis the Pedernales River near Johnson City is flowing at 17 cfs.

Lake Conditions

As of 7:30 am, the level of Lake Buchanan is 991.59 ft msl which is about 20.6 feet below its historic March average of 1,012.16 ft msl. The level of Lake Travis is 630.63 ft msl which is about 40.0 feet below its historic March average of 670.61 ft msl. The total combined storage in the Highland Lakes two water storage reservoirs, Buchanan and Travis, is at 817,000 acre-feet, or 41 percent of capacity. The surface water temperature of Lake Travis as measured near Mansfield Dam is 61 degrees"

[gboudx]

North Texas Municipal Water District going back to Stage 3 water restrictions due to low levels in Lavon and Chapman. Dallas is unaffected by this since they draw from Ray Hubbard, and I'm not sure what water restrictions are in place for the Ray Hubbard service area. These new restrictions start June 1.

https://ntmwd.com/downloads/newsrelease ... 252013.pdf

[vbhoutex]

We've had some mitigating rains the last two days in the Houston metro area and to our West and SW also. Should help with the short term drought. The areas to our W and SW need it more than we do and we really needed it.

[weatherdude1108]

I saw a story that the combined storage of Lakes Buchanan and Travis has a chance of reaching record low territory for LCRA history come this Fall if things don't change.

The caveat is always a tropical system or so in the right areas, or a rain bomb like that which fell in June 2007 in Marble Falls. Lake Travis filled overnight to its full elevation. The rains continued through the Summer and filled Lake Buchanan and flooded Travis. I think I watered the grass once that entire Summer, and had to work the mowing around the rainstorms.

http://www.kvue.com/home/Lake-Travis-ma ... 07601.html

[somethingfunny]

What a difference a year makes!

Thanks, somethingfunny, for the image.