DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 909 AM CDT MON JUN 28 2009 ...DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT... ...DRIEST MAY 1ST THROUGH JUNE 28TH RECORDED IN HOUSTON... ...HIGHER RAIN CHANCES TODAY AND TUESDAY... SYNOPSIS... A PERSISTENT UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS HAS SHUNTED STORM SYSTEMS TO THE NORTH AND WEST OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THE RIDGE INTENSIFIED EARLY LAST WEEK AND HAS PRODUCED UNSEASONABLY WARM TEMPERATURES...EXCEEDING 100 DEGREES AT TIMES. RAINFALL HAS BEEN VIRTUALLY NON-EXISTENT. ON JUNE 24TH AND AGAIN ON THE 26TH...HOUSTON RECORED A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 104 DEGREES WHICH IS THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE. COLLEGE STATION AND HUNTSVILLE ALSO RECORDED BRUTALLY HIGH TEMPERATURES ON THE 24TH...REGISTERING 106 DEGREES. THE RIDGE HAS WEAKENED SLIGHTLY AND HAS PUSHED A BIT FURTHER WEST. THIS WILL ALLOW A WEAK BOUNDARY TO PUSH INTO TEXAS. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE BOUNDARY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND AGAIN TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. ALTHOUGH RAINFALL IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE HEAVY...ANY RAIN WILL BE HELPFUL. THE CLOUDS WILL ALSO HELP TO RETARD HEATING SO HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO TREND COOLER FOR A FEW DAYS. HOUSTON INTERCONTINENTAL AIRPORT ENDURED 31 CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITHOUT MEASURABLE RAIN. A THUNDERSTORM ON THE EVENING OF JUNE 25TH ENDED THE DRY STREAK. 0.27 INCHES OF RAIN FELL AT THE AIRPORT. THE DRIEST STRETCH OF WEATHER EVER RECORDED FOR HOUSTON WAS BACK IN 1904. THERE WAS NO MEASURABLE RAIN BETWEEN JANUARY 8 1904 AND FEBRUARY 16 1904 - 40 DAYS! * THIS TIES FOR THE 12TH LONGEST PERIOD WITHOUT MEASURABLE RAIN. THE LAST TIME HOUSTON WENT 31 DAYS WITHOUT RAIN WAS FROM JULY 31 1990 THROUGH AUGUST 30 1990. THE PERIOD MAY 1 2009 THROUGH JUNE 28 2009 IS NOW THE DRIEST PERIOD IN HOUSTON WEATHER HISTORY. A PALTRY 0.65 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN OVER THE LAST 57 DAYS. THE NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THIS PERIOD IS 10.21 INCHES OR ROUGHLY 7 PERCENT OF NORMAL. BELOW IS A TABLE WITH THE FIVE DRIEST PERIODS (MAY 1 THROUGH JUNE 26): 0.65 IN 2009 0.85 IN 1931 1.72 IN 1901 1.78 IN 1915 1.82 IN 1934 OTHER COMMUNITIES ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS HAVE SUFFERED A SIMILAR FATE. COLLEGE STATION...HUNTSVILLE AND CONROE HAVE NOT RECORDED MEASURABLE RAINFALL DURING JUNE. ANGLETON...BAY CITY AND EDNA HAVE YET TO RECEIVE 10 INCHES OF RAIN THIS YEAR. MAY AND JUNE ARE TYPICALLY TWO OF THE WETTEST MONTHS OF THE YEAR SO THIS BUILDING DROUGHT IS OF GREAT CONCERN. BELOW IS A TABLE WITH RAINFALL AND RAINFALL DEFICITS FOR A FEW SITES ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS: HOUSTON INTERCONTINENTAL AIRPORT MONTH RAIN DEP JAN 0.49 -3.19 FEB 1.52 -1.46 MAR 4.08 +0.72 APR 10.38 +6.78 MAY 0.38 -4.77 JUN 0.27 -4.79 TOTAL 17.12 -6.71 HOUSTON HOBBY AIRPORT MONTH RAIN DEP JAN 0.37 -3.88 FEB 1.18 -1.83 MAR 2.52 -0.67 APR 15.61 +12.15 MAY 0.66 -4.45 JUN 1.07 -5.38 TOTAL 21.41 -4.06 COLLEGE STATION MONTH RAIN DEP JAN 0.70 -2.62 FEB 0.68 -1.70 MAR 5.07 +2.23 APR 6.11 +2.91 MAY 1.41 -3.64 JUN TRACE -3.61 TOTAL 13.97 -6.43 GALVESTON MONTH RAIN DEP JAN 0.34 -3.74 FEB 1.05 -1.56 MAR 3.73 +0.97 APR 5.23 +2.67 MAY 0.19 -3.51 JUN 0.32 -3.48 TOTAL 10.86 -8.65 ANGLETON MONTH RAIN DEP JAN 0.25 -4.51 FEB 0.43 -4.33 MAR 1.57 -3.19 APR 3.40 -0.37 MAY 1.10 -3.66 JUN 0.61 -3.79 TOTAL 7.36 -19.55 AS OF JUNE 25 2009...THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR INDICATED THAT EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS WERE AFFECTING PARTS OF JACKSON AND BURLESON COUNTIES. EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS WERE AFFECTING PARTS OF MATAGORDA AND BRAZOS COUNTIES. SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS WERE AFFECTING PARTS OF WHARTON...COLORADO...FORT BEND...BRAZORIA... GRIMES...MADISON...WALKER AND HOUSTON COUNTIES. MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS WERE IMPACTING PARTS OF TRINITY...MONTGOMERY...HARRIS... WALLER...AUSTIN...GALVESTON AND CHAMBERS AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES. ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS COVERED THE REMAINDER OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY DETERIORATE OVER THE NEXT WEEK. FOR FURTHER CLARIFICATION...SEE EITHER (ALL LINKS IN LOWER CASE) HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.UNL.EDU/DM/DM_STATE.HTM?TX.S OR FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY SEE...HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.UNL.EDU/DM/MONITOR.HTML. AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS... THE LATEST SOIL MOISTURE ANOMALY GRAPHIC FROM THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER SHOWS EXCESSIVELY TO ABNORMALLY DRY SOIL CONDITIONS OVER ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THE JUNE 24TH TEXAS A & M TEXAS CROP AND WEATHER REPORT INDICATED THAT CROPS CONTINUE TO SUFFER FROM THE HEAT AND DROUGHT WITH THE EXCEPTION OF RICE. CORN YIELDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE LOW. COASTAL GRASSES WERE BROWN. SECOND HAY CUTTINGS WERE LIMITED. IRRIGATED GRASS FIELD WERE STILL GREEN BUT WITH LIMITED GROWTH. LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS REQUIRED SUPPLEMENTAL FEED. POND LEVELS CONTINUE TO DROP. FOR MORE INFORMATION...SEE HTTP://AGNEWS.TAMU.EDU (ALL LOWER CASE). HYDROLOGIC IMPACTS... RAINFALL NORTH OF THE REGION HAS ALLOWED RIVERS TO STAY NEAR BANKS. THIS HAS ALLOWED AREA RESERVOIRS TO STAY NEAR CAPACITY. WATERSHED CAPACITY LAKE LIVINGSTON 100 PERCENT LAKE CONROE 96 PERCENT HOUSTON COUNTY LAKE 95 PERCENT LAKE HOUSTON 97 PERCENT LAKE SOMERVILLE 83 PERCENT LAKE TEXANA 66 PERCENT FIRE DANGER IMPACTS... A HIGH FIRE DANGER EXISTS OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS. HIGH RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL ALLOW FOR SOME RECOVERY AT NIGHT BUT EXTREME DAYTIME TEMPERATURES...AVERAGING 6 TO 8 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL WILL INCREASE THE FIRE WEATHER THREAT. DRY GROUND FUELS WILL ALSO INCREASE THE THREAT FOR WILD FIRES. AS OF JUNE 28TH...THE HIGHEST KEETCH-BYRAM DROUGHT INDICES (600 TO 700) WERE LOCATED OVER MUCH OF THE REGION. THE COUNTIES WITH THE 600 TO 700 KBDI VALUES INCLUDE: JACKSON...BRAZORIA...MONTGOMERY...SAN JACINTO...POLK...TRINITY...MADISON...BRAZOS...WASHINGTON... WHARTON...WALKER...GRIMES...LIBERTY...HARRIS...BURLESON AND FORT BEND COUNTIES. KBDI VALUES BETWEEN 500 AND 600 COVER THE REMAINDER OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS INCLUDING: GALVESTON...CHAMBERS...MATAGORDA... COLORADO...AUSTIN...HOUSTON AND WALLER COUNTIES. (SEE THE LINK...ALL LOWER CASE HTTP://WEBGIS.TAMU.EDU/TFS/ KBDI_DAILY/ KBDICOUNTY.PNG). INDICES WILL LIKELY INCREASE THIS WEEK IF BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL CONTINUES. RESTRICTIONS/ACTIONS... ACCORDING TO THE TEXAS FOREST SERVICE WEB SITE ON JUNE 28 2009... (HTTP://TFSFRP.TAMU.EDU/WILDFIRES/DECBAN.PNG)...A BURN BAN IS IN EFFECT FOR MADISON...WALKER...LIBERTY...CHAMBERS...GALVESTON... MATAGORDA...HOUSTON...BRAZORIA...HARRIS...AUSTIN...BRAZOS... POLK..SAN JACINTO...WHARTON...MONTGOMERY...WALLER... AUSTIN... WASHINGTON...GRIMES AND COLORADO COUNTIES. CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO DETERIORATE AND ADDITIONAL COUNTIES MAY INSTILL BURN BANS BEFORE THE INDEPENDENCE DAY HOLIDAY. WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR SOME COMMUNITIES INCLUDING PEARLAND...THE WOODLANDS...CONROE...BAYOU VISTA...SUGARLAND AND LA MARQUE. RESIDENTS SHOULD REMAIN VIGILANT WHEN DOING ANY OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES WHICH INVOLVE FIRE OR SPARKS...BY MAKING SURE WATER IS QUICKLY AVAILABLE IF AN UNWANTED FIRE OR SMOLDERING BEGIN. FINALLY... MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DISCARD LIGHTED CIGARETTES FROM THEIR VEHICLES. OUTLOOK... A PERSISTENT AND STRONG UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL HAS SHIFTED SLIGHTLY WEST. THIS WILL ALLOW A DEEPENING EAST COAST UPPER TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE COLD FRONT TO MOVE INTO TEXAS. THIS WILL ALLOW SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP THROUGH THE END OF THE MONTH. NOT EVERYONE WILL RECEIVE RAIN BUT AT THIS POINT...ANY RAINFALL WILL HELP. TEMPERATURES WILL AVERAGE 3 TO 5 DEGREES WARMER THAN THE CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMALS FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. LONG RANGE MODELS ARE NOT IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH CONDITIONS IN BY THE END OF THE WEEK. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THAT THE UPPER RIDGE WILL STRENGTHEN AGAIN BY THE END OF THIS WEEK. UNSEASONABLY WARM TEMPERATURES AND DRY CONDITIONS WILL REDEVELOP OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS. RAIN CHANCES WILL REMAIN LOW AND TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ABOVE SEASONAL NORMALS. THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE BE ISSUED ON OR AROUND JULY 1 2009. $$ CR