The active storm track that began taking rainfall across
North Texas in Mid to Late February, shifted slightly south
in March to bring beneficial rains to the North and
Northeast part of South Central Texas.
March rainfall was below normal generally along and
to the south and
southwest of a Rocksprings to New Braunfels to Cuero line.
Austin Mabry had
7.54 inches of rain, the wettest March in 150 years, from
1856 to 2006. More severe weather events came also,
on the late evening of 8th to early morning of the 9th,
in the early morning of the 19th, in the evening of the
19th to early morning of the 20th, and on the 28th.
Temperature extremes showed up also, with early 90
Degree Days in early March, followed by a later than
usual freeze the 24th and 25th. The overall average
temperatures was around 1.5 to around 5 degrees above
normal. It was the 10th warmest March on record for Del Rio,
and the 11th warmest March at San Antonio.
Even though rains came to the area in March, the rainfall
perspective from April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006 was
very dry.
AT SAN ANTONIO APRIL 1ST...2005 TO MARCH 31ST...2006 WAS THE
2ND DRIEST APRIL 1ST TO MARCH 31ST PERIOD IN 121 YEARS...
WITH 12.27 INCHES OF RAIN. IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOR THE MID TO
LATE MARCH RAINS...THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN THE DRIEST APRIL 1ST
TO MARCH 31ST PERIOD.
SAN ANTONIO INTL AP (KSAT)
EXTREMES
LOWEST TOTAL PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
DAYS: 4/1 - 3/31
LENGTH OF PERIOD: 365 DAYS
YEARS: 1885-2006
RANK VALUE ENDING DATE
1 11.16 3/31/1918
2 12.27 3/31/2006
3 15.31 3/31/1910
4 14.92 3/31/1956
5 15.66 3/31/1898
6 15.84 3/31/1893
7 16.15 3/31/1902
8 16.29 3/31/1954
9 16.49 3/31/1948
10 17.57 3/31/2000
ENDING DATE IS THE LAST DAY OF THE 365-DAY PERIOD.
AT AUSTIN BERGSTROM ONLY 17.12 INCHES OF RAIN FELL FROM
APRIL 1ST...2005 TO MARCH 31ST...2006. THIS IS THE 3RD DRIEST
APRIL 1ST TO MARCH 31ST PERIODS SINCE 1943. IF THE MID TO LATE
MARCH RAINS HAD NOT COME...APRIL 1ST...2005 TO MARCH 31...2006 COULD
HAVE BEEN THE 2ND DRIEST.
AUSTIN BERGSTROM (KAUS)
EXTREMES
LOWEST TOTAL PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
DAYS: 4/1 - 3/31
LENGTH OF PERIOD: 365 DAYS
YEARS: 1943-2006
RANK VALUE ENDING DATE
1 10.67 3/31/1948
2 15.42 3/31/1955
3 17.12 3/31/2006
4 17.30 3/31/1956
5 18.34 3/31/1957
6 18.38 3/31/1964
7 18.41 3/31/1978
8 18.71 3/31/1949
9 19.64 3/31/1971
10 21.69 3/31/1990
ENDING DATE IS THE LAST DAY OF THE 365-DAY PERIOD.
WITH THE RECORD MARCH MONTHLY RAINS AT AUSTIN MABRY IN 2006 OF 7.54
INCHES...THE PERIOD FROM APRIL 1ST...2005 TO MARCH 31ST...2006 IS
NOT IN THE TOP 10...YET STILL THE 22ND DRIEST...WITH 23.80 INCHES OF
RAIN. IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOR THE MARCH RAINS...THE RAINFALL FOR
APRIL 1ST...2005 TO MARCH 31...2006 WOULD HAVE BEEN THE DRIEST SINCE
1856...A 150 YEAR PERIOD.
AUSTIN MABRY/MUELLER MUNICIPAL AP (KATT)
EXTREMES
LOWEST TOTAL PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
DAYS: 4/1 - 3/31
LENGTH OF PERIOD: 365 DAYS
YEARS: 1856-2006
RANK VALUE ENDING DATE
1 16.78 3/31/1955
2 18.15 3/31/1948
3 18.40 3/31/1918
4 18.51 3/31/1902
5 18.70 3/31/1857
6 18.80 3/31/1978
7 19.23 3/31/1948
8 19.24 3/31/1907
9 19.27 3/31/1956
10 19.65 3/31/1964
11 19.85 3/31/1913
12 20.03 3/31/1957
13 20.10 3/31/1879
14 21.19 3/31/1894
15 21.55 3/31/1895
16 22.16 3/31/1971
17 22.72 3/31/1989
18 22.74 3/31/1967
19 23.11 3/31/1940
20 23.14 3/31/1994
21 23.55 3/31/1939
22 23.80 3/31/2006
23 24.02 3/31/1899
ENDING DATE IS THE LAST DAY OF THE 365-DAY PERIOD.
Ninety degree days came in early March of this year,
not unusual after such a mild
winter and during drought conditions.
The first 90 Degree Days of 2006 were as follows:
Location Date Average First 90
Degree Day
Austin Mabry 91 on March 10th April 19th
Austin Bergstrom 93 on March 10th
Del Rio 91 on March 1st March 22nd
San Antonio 90 on March 8th April 9th
Rainfall from the 18th to the 20th was the best rain the area
had since February 17th and since the Fall of 2005.
The rain was light on the 18th, then picked up some the 19th,
and increased in the evening of the 19th and morning of the 20th,
accompanied by severe weather. The Austin area had
2 to 3 inch rains the night of the 19th and early morning
of the 20th.
Thunderstorms came in the early morning hours of Sunday the 19th
between 5 and 10 AM to parts of the hill country, where hail
was reported in Edwards County, Kerr County and Burnet County.
A longer and more intense round of thunderstorms came the
evening of the 19th to early morning of the 20th.
An F2 tornado touched down about 5 miles east of the Uvalde
Airport Sunday evening
the 19th around 1020 PM CST. This was the strongest tornado to
affect South Central Texas since the evening of Friday,
October 12, 2001, when an F3 tornado struck Stonewall and
an F2 tornado struck Hondo. Severe thunderstorm winds were
observed in Uvalde, with estimated winds of 80 to 90 mph.
Severe thunderstorms and hail affected an area from
Val Verde County to Medina...Bandera...Kendall...and
Kerr County. As the thunderstorms moved east over the
rest of South Central Texas, the storms brought more lightning
and strong gusty winds. The storms left
2 to 3 inch rains over parts of the hill country and east
to the Austin Area.
Even though Spring began on March 20th, much cooler weather followed
from the 21st to the 25th.
Several surges of cool air dropped daytime highs
20 to 25 degrees by Thursday the 23rd and
Friday the 24th.
A late freeze came March 24th and 25th. The freeze both mornings
brought the lows down into the 20s over the hill country to around 30 to near freezing
over adjacent parts of Central and South Central Texas. The freeze
line on March 24th was along and north of a line near
Carrizo Springs to near San Antonio to La Grange. A few locations
in this area were in the low to mid 30s, however most
reported lows near and
below freezing. On the
morning of the 25th, lows near and below freezing was
observed near and north to east of a line from
near Pandale to Boerne to Bastrop to Yoakum. The eastern extent
of the freeze was observed from near Yoakum north to Schulenburg
and to Giddings.
The Average First and Last Date of Freezes for the Area
from 1950 to 2006 is listed below for selected locations.
Average Freeze Data: 1950 to 2006
Location Average Last Average First
Freeze Freeze
Llano Mar 22 Nov 10
Fredericksburg Mar 21 Nov 12
Johnson City Mar 20 Nov 13
Blanco Mar 21 Nov 10
Boerne Mar 22 Nov 11
Austin Mabry Feb 24 Dec 2
Austin Bergstrom Mar 6 Nov 25
San Marcos Mar 6 Nov 22
New Braunfels Mar 8 Nov 24
San Antonio Mar 1 Nov 25
Gonzales Feb 28 Nov 30
Yoakum Feb 27 Dec 1
Del Rio Feb 21 Dec 1
Rocksprings Mar 18 Nov 19
Carrizo Springs Feb 19 Nov 30
Eagle Pass Feb 18 Dec 5
At the
end of March on the 28th, the Austin Area experienced heavy
rain again, with 2.34 inches at Austin Mabry, between 8 and 9
am, and 3.26 inches for the day. This was the wettest March
28th and wettest March daily rainfall for Austin Mabry.
The 1.86 inches of rain at Austin Bergstrom the 28th was
the wettest March 28th at Austin Bergstrom.
At Austin Mabry rain for March 2006 was
7.54 inches. This broke the previous record March
rainfall for the Austin City Climate location. now Austin Mabry.
The previous record for March
was 7.23 inches in March of 1926.
THE WETTEST MARCH RAINFALL FOR AUSTIN MABRY
FROM 1856 TO 2006 FOLLOWS.
1. MARCH 2006 7.54 INCHES
2. MARCH 1926 7.23 INCHES
3. MARCH 1900 7.20 INCHES
4. MARCH 1858 7.02 INCHES
weather.gov
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