PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
603 AM CST SUN FEB 1 2009

     ...ANOTHER DRY MONTH ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS...

RAINFALL WAS VERY SPARSE IN JANUARY. THIS WAS THE THIRD MONTH IN A
ROW WITH BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL. HOW DRY WAS IT? HOUSTON RECEIVED
0.49 INCHES OF RAIN DURING JANUARY. THIS TIES FOR THE SIXTH DRIEST
JANUARY SINCE RECORDS WERE ESTABLISHED IN 1889. THE TWO MONTH
TOTAL FOR DECEMBER AND JANUARY IN HOUSTON WAS 2.17 INCHES. THIS IS
THE THIRD DRIEST TOTAL IN HISTORY. ONLY 1970-71 (1.00 INCHES) AND
1917-18 (2.15 INCHES) WERE DRIER THAN THIS PERIOD.

GALVESTON RECEIVED EVEN LESS RAIN. A PALTRY 0.34 INCHES OF RAIN
FELL ON THE ISLAND DURING THE MONTH. THIS TIES FOR THE THIRD
DRIEST JANUARY ON RECORD. GALVESTON ALSO ENDURED IT`S FOURTH
DRIEST DECEMBER/JANUARY RAINFALL WITH ONLY 2.16 INCHES OF RAIN.
THE YEARS OF 1970-71 (1.14 INCHES)...1917-18 (1.54 INCHES) AND
1941-42 (2.15 INCHES) WERE DRIER.

COLLEGE STATION RECEIVED A COMPARATIVELY GENEROUS 0.70 INCHES OF
RAIN DURING THE MONTH. THIS IS THE 15TH DRIEST JANUARY ON RECORD
FOR COLLEGE STATION. THE TWO MONTH TOTAL FOR DECEMBER AND JANUARY
IN COLLEGE STATION WAS ONLY 1.50 INCHES. THIS IS THE FOURTH DRIEST
TOTAL IN HISTORY. THE YEARS OF 1950-51 (0.71 INCHES)...1981-82 (1.19
INCHES) AND 1970-71 (1.22 INCHES) WERE DRIER. LOOKING BACK OVER
THE LAST FOUR MONTHS..THE OCTOBER THROUGH JANUARY RAINFALL AT
COLLEGE STATION HAS BEEN 4.58 INCHES. THIS TIES FOR THE THIRD
DRIEST PERIOD ON RECORD. ONLY THE YEARS OF 1950-51 (1.16
INCHES)...1917-18 (3.26 INCHES) AND 1966-67 (4.58 INCHES) WERE
DRIER.

THE LAST THREE MONTHS HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY DRY. THE NOVEMBER
THROUGH JANUARY RAINFALL TOTAL IS ONLY 5.09 INCHES AT
HOUSTON...5.53 INCHES AT GALVESTON AND 2.85 INCHES AT COLLEGE
STATION. COLLEGE STATION HAS ONLY RECEIVED 4.58 INCHES OF RAIN
SINCE OCTOBER 1ST.

SITE            NOV     DEC     JAN     TOTAL    NORMAL     DEP
HOUSTON         2.92    1.68    0.49    5.09     11.56     -6.47
GALVESTON       3.37    1.82    0.34    5.53     11.25     -5.72
COLLEGE STATION 1.35    0.80    0.70    2.85      9.73     -6.88

FIRE WEATHER DANGER IS INCREASING. MUCH OF THE AREA IS NOW
CLASSIFIED IN MODERATE DROUGHT STATUS. THE EXTREME WESTERN EDGE OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS...WEST OF AN EDNA TO CALDWELL LINE IS NOW
CLASSIFIED AS SEVERE DROUGHT.

TEMPERATURE WERE GENERALLY 1 TO 2 DEGREES WARMER THAN NORMAL.
JANUARY STARTED OUT VERY WARM AND TRENDED CLOSER TO SEASONAL
VALUES OVER THE SECOND HALF OF THE MONTH.

AS FOR HAZARDOUS WEATHER...FIRE WEATHER HAS BEEN AND WILL REMAIN
A THREAT UNTIL MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN RETURNS. A FEW EPISODES OF
SEA FOG AFFECTED MARINE AREAS AND THE ADJACENT LAND AREAS. SOME
VERY LIGHT FREEZING RAIN AFFECTED PARTS OF BRAZOS...MADISON AND
HOUSTON COUNTIES ON THE 27TH.

BELOW IS A TABLE WITH TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL DATA FOR THE
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY CLIMATE SITES ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS:

SITE     AVG     AVG     AVG     DEP     RAINFALL     DEP
         HIGH    LOW     MONTH

IAH      66.5    41.4    53.9    +2.1    0.49         -3.19
GLS      64.5    48.1    56.3    +0.5    0.34         -3.74
CLL      66.0    39.6    52.8    +2.6    0.70         -2.62
HOU      66.9    43.6    55.2    +0.9    0.37         -3.88
PSX      67.0    42.3    54.6    +1.7    0.15         -3.03
CXO      65.6    36.9    51.3    +1.4    0.62         -3.59
UTS      64.7    39.9    52.3    +3.5    0.55         -3.73
LVJ      66.4    41.9    54.2    -0.6    0.38         -2.64
SGR      68.0    40.8    54.4    +0.3    0.30         -3.66
DWH      66.8    39.1    53.0    -1.1    0.50         -2.54
LBX      68.0    40.2    54.1    -0.1    0.25         -4.51
HGX      65.5    42.3    53.9    +0.5    0.26         -5.17

$$