DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1105 AM CDT THU AUG 20 2009 ...DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT... ...MAY 1ST THROUGH AUGUST 19TH IS ONE OF THE DRIEST ON RECORD FOR HOUSTON...GALVESTON AND COLLEGE STATION... ...EXTREME TO EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS PERSIST OVER PARTS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS... SYNOPSIS... THE FIRST 11 DAYS OF AUGUST BROUGHT MORE ARID MISERY TO SOUTHEAST TEXAS. RAINFALL WAS PRIMARILY CONFINED TO THE NORTHEAST PORTION OF THE REGION...GENERALLY EAST OF A CROCKETT TO LIVINGSTON LINE. A WEAK BOUNDARY SNUCK INTO SOUTHEAST TEXAS ON AUGUST 11TH AND SERVED AS A FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORMS. THE BOUNDARY LINGERED ACROSS THE REGION ON THE 12TH AND BROUGHT ANOTHER ROUND OF STORMS TO THE REGION. DAYTIME HEATING COUPLED WITH ABUNDANT MOISTURE BROUGHT MORE RAIN ON THE 13TH. THE RAIN EVEN DRIFTED FAR ENOUGH SOUTH TO BRING WELCOME RAIN TO THE PARCHED AREAS IN JACKSON...MATAGORDA...WHARTON AND COLORADO COUNTIES. OVER THE LAST SEVEN DAYS...RAINFALL WAS MORE SCATTERED AND AMOUNTS WERE LIGHTER. AN INVERTED TROUGH PUSHED WEST ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY BRINGING SCATTERED SHOWERS TO PARTS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS...INCLUDING THE RAIN STARVED AREAS OF JACKSON...MATAGORDA AND WHARTON COUNTIES. WITH REGARDS TO RAINFALL...EDNA...EL CAMPO AND COLUMBUS HAVE BEEN FARING CONSIDERABLY BETTER RECENTLY. EDNA COLUMBUS EL CAMPO MAY 0.96 1.96 1.76 JUNE 0.16 0.10 0.32 JULY 2.24 0.70 2.68 AUG 19 2.41 2.00 1.99 BELOW IS A TABLE WITH RAINFALL AND RAINFALL DEFICITS (THROUGH AUGUST 19TH) FOR A FEW SITES ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS. PLEASE NOTE THE APRIL RAINFALL COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE MONTHS. COLLEGE STATION RECEIVED ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL IN JULY FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE APRIL BUT ALL THE OTHER PRIMARY CLIMATE SITES STILL SUFFERED BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL. GALVESTON AND ANGLETON ARE NOW SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT ANNUAL RAINFALL DEFICITS. CONDITIONS DETERIORATE SIGNIFICANTLY OVER THE SOUTHWEST HALF OF THE HOUSTON/GALVESTON COUNTY WARNING AREA. ANGLETON IS NOW OVER 20 INCHES BELOW THEIR NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THE YEAR AND HAS YET TO HAVE A MONTH WITH ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL THIS YEAR. IN FACT...THE LAST TIME ANGLETON RECEIVED ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL WAS SEPTEMBER OF 2008. FURTHER DOWN THE COAST...PALACIOS IS SUFFERING A SIMILAR FATE. SINCE SEPTEMBER 1 2008...RAINFALL AT PALACIOS HAS BEEN A PALTRY 20.27. THIS IS 23.42 INCHES BELOW NORMAL OR ROUGHLY 46 PERCENT OF THE EXPECTED RAINFALL. HOUSTON INTERCONTINENTAL AIRPORT MONTH RAIN DEP PERCENT OF NORMAL JAN 0.49 -3.19 13.3 PERCENT FEB 1.52 -1.46 51.0 PERCENT MAR 4.08 +0.72 121.4 PERCENT APR 10.38 +6.78 288.3 PERCENT MAY 0.38 -4.77 7.5 PERCENT JUN 0.27 -5.08 5.0 PERCENT JUL 2.84 -0.34 89.3 PERCENT AUG 0.86 -1.35 38.9 PERCENT TOTAL 20.82 -8.69 70.6 PERCENT HOUSTON HOBBY AIRPORT MONTH RAIN DEP PERCENT OF NORMAL JAN 0.37 -3.88 8.7 PERCENT FEB 1.18 -1.83 39.2 PERCENT MAR 2.52 -0.67 70.5 PERCENT APR 15.61 +12.15 451.1 PERCENT MAY 0.66 -4.45 12.9 PERCENT JUN 1.39 -5.45 20.3 PERCENT JUL 3.62 -0.74 83.0 PERCENT AUG 1.47 -1.13 56.5 PERCENT TOTAL 26.82 -6.00 81.7 PERCENT COLLEGE STATION MONTH RAIN DEP PERCENT OF NORMAL JAN 0.70 -2.62 21.1 PERCENT FEB 0.68 -1.70 28.6 PERCENT MAR 5.07 +2.23 158.4 PERCENT APR 6.11 +2.91 190.9 PERCENT MAY 1.41 -3.64 27.9 PERCENT JUN TRACE -3.79 0.0 PERCENT JUL 2.42 +0.50 126.0 PERCENT AUG 0.01 -1.42 1.0 PERCENT TOTAL 16.40 -7.53 68.5 PERCENT GALVESTON MONTH RAIN DEP PERCENT OF NORMAL JAN 0.34 -3.74 8.3 PERCENT FEB 1.05 -1.56 40.2 PERCENT MAR 3.73 +0.97 135.1 PERCENT APR 5.23 +2.67 204.2 PERCENT MAY 0.19 -3.51 5.1 PERCENT JUN 0.32 -3.72 7.9 PERCENT JUL 2.72 -0.73 78.8 PERCENT AUG 0.10 -1.51 6.6 PERCENT TOTAL 13.68 -11.84 53.6 PERCENT ANGLETON (ASOS) 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 0.62 -4.14 JUL 2.73 -1.04 AUG 0.33 -0.91 TOTAL 10.43 -22.15 PALACIOS MONTH RAIN DEP SEP 0.85 -5.73 OCT 1.82 -3.19 NOV 6.14 +2.75 DEC 0.74 -2.34 JAN 0.15 -3.03 FEB 0.72 -1.73 MAR 2.07 -0.63 APR 2.02 -0.78 MAY 5.69 +1.14 JUN 0.02 -4.29 JUL TRACE -3.99 AUG 0.05 -1.67 TOTAL 20.27 -23.42 AS OF AUGUST 19 2009...THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR INDICATED THAT CONDITIONS HAVE REMAINED VIRTUALLY UNCHANGED OVER THE AREA. SPOTTY SHOWERS HAVE DEVELOPED BUT RAINFALL TOTALS WERE GENERALLY LIGHT AND NOT WIDESPREAD ENOUGH TO OFFER MUCH IN THE WAY OF RELIEF. IMPROVED OVER THE EAST-NORTHEAST PORTION OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THERE WAS VIRTUALLY NO IMPROVEMENT IN DROUGHT CONDITIONS OVER THE SOUTHWEST PORTION OF THE REGION. U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR CLASSIFICATIONS EXCEPTIONAL EXTREME SEVERE MODERATE BRAZORIA SW HARRIS WALKER NE HARRIS CSTL GALVESTON FT BEND MONTGOMERY MATAGORDA AUSTIN TRINITY JACKSON WASHINGTON EAST GALVESTON WHARTON BRAZOS SAN JACINTO COLORADO GRIMES LIBERTY BURLESON MADISON CHAMBERS HOUSTON WALLER BELOW IS A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF EACH DROUGHT CLASSIFICATION: D4 EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT - EXCEPTIONAL OR WIDESPREAD CROP/PASTURE LOSS A SHORTAGE OF WATER IN RESERVOIRS AND STREAMS CREATING A WATER EMERGENCY. D3 EXTREME DROUGHT - MAJOR CROP OR PASTURE LOSSES. WIDESPREAD WATER SHORTAGES AND RESTRICTIONS. D2 SEVERE DROUGHT - CROP OR PASTURE LOSSES LIKELY. SOME WATER SHORTAGES COMMON AND SOME WATER RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED. D1 MODERATE DROUGHT - SOME DAMAGE TO CROPS AND PASTURES. RESERVOIRS OR WELLS LOW. VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED. D0 ABNORMALLY DRY - SHORT TERM DRYNESS. PLANT GROWTH SLOWS. MINOR WATER DEFICITS. SCATTERED SHOWERS HAVE DOTTED THE REGION OVER THE LAST FOUR DAYS BUT RAINFALL AMOUNTS HAVE BEEN LIGHT. SOME LOCATIONS HAVE RECEIVED HEAVIER RAIN THAN OTHERS. FOR SOME REASON KNOWN ONLY TO FATE...OUR THREE PRIMARY CLIMATE SITES HAVE BEEN VERY DRY WHILE OTHER SUPPLEMENTAL SITES NEAR BY HAVE BEEN WETTER. IT IS STILL THE DRIEST MAY 1 THROUGH AUGUST 19 FOR THE CITY OF HOUSTON (BACK TO 1892)...5TH DRIEST FOR COLLEGE STATION (BACK TO 1902)...2ND DRIEST FOR GALVESTON (BACK TO 1875) AND 4TH DRIEST FOR HOBBY AIRPORT (BACK TO 1931). BELOW IS A TABLE WITH THE FIVE DRIEST MAY 1 THROUGH AUGUST 19 FOR OUR PRIMARY CLIMATE SITES: RAINFALL MAY 1 THROUGH AUGUST 19 HOUSTON COLLEGE GALVESTON HOUSTON STATION HOBBY 4.35 2009 2.23 1998 2.11 1956 4.55 1934 5.17 1931 2.26 1934 3.33 2009 5.79 1931 6.47 1917 3.17 1925 3.60 1930 6.49 1998 6.84 1964 3.33 1917 3.93 1954 7.14 2009 6.88 1998 3.82 2009 4.24 1948 8.08 1988 THE NWS OFFICE IN LEAGUE CITY (NORTHERN GALVESTON COUNTY) HAS BEEN FAR MORE FORTUNATE THAN THE CITY OF GALVESTON (ON THE COAST). THE NWS OFFICE HAS RECEIVED 10.41 INCHES SINCE MAY 1 AND CLOVER FIELD IN PEARLAND (CLOSE TO HOBBY AIRPORT) HAS RECEIVED 9.53 INCHES OF RAIN SINCE MAY 1 2009. 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 MODERATELY DRY SOIL CONDITIONS OVER THE EXTREME EAST AND NORTHEAST WITH SEVERELY DRY SOIL CONDITIONS OVER THE SOUTHWEST PORTION OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THE AUGUST 19TH TEXAS A & M TEXAS CROP AND WEATHER REPORT INDICATED THAT STOCK TANK LEVELS WERE LOW. PASTURES CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE AND PRODUCERS WERE BALING CROP RESIDUE TO PROVIDE FILLER FOR CATTLE. FOR MORE INFORMATION...SEE HTTP://AGNEWS.TAMU.EDU (ALL LOWER CASE). HYDROLOGIC IMPACTS... RIVER LEVELS HAVE REMAINED NEAR NORMAL LEVELS OVER THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE REGION. AREA RESERVOIRS WERE NEAR CAPACITY OVER THE EAST AND WELL BELOW NORMAL OVER THE WEST. WATERSHED CAPACITY LAKE LIVINGSTON 99 PERCENT LAKE CONROE 94 PERCENT HOUSTON COUNTY LAKE 88 PERCENT LAKE HOUSTON 100 PERCENT LAKE SOMERVILLE 75 PERCENT LAKE TEXANA 60 PERCENT FIRE DANGER IMPACTS... THE FIRE WEATHER THREAT REMAINS HIGH AS GROUND FUELS REMAIN DRY. DUE TO HEAVIER RAIN OVER THE NORTHEAST HALF OF THE REGION...THE BURN BAN PREVIOUSLY IN EFFECT FOR POLK COUNTY HAS BEEN LIFTED. HIGH RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL ALLOW FOR SOME RECOVERY AT NIGHT BUT EXTREME DAYTIME TEMPERATURES...AVERAGING 3 TO 4 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL WILL INCREASE THE FIRE WEATHER THREAT. HOUSTON AND COLLEGE STATION ARE STILL ON PACE TO RECORD THEIR 3RD AND 2ND WARMEST AUGUST ON RECORD. THE AREA IS ALSO ON PACE TO RECORD ITS WARMEST SUMMER IN RECORDED HISTORY. AS OF AUGUST 19TH...RECENT RAINS HAVE HELPED TO IMPROVE THE KEETCH-BYRAM DROUGHT INDICES OVER PARTS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. KBDI VALUES REMAINED NEAR CRITICAL VALUES OVER FAR WESTERN COUNTIES DUE TO TEMPERATURES ABOVE 100 DEGREES AND THE LACK OF RAINFALL. BELOW IS A TABLE WITH KBDI VALUES (08/04/2009): 700-800 600-700 500-600 400-500 AUSTIN BRAZORIA FT BEND GALVESTON WASHINGTON HARRIS MATAGORDA CHAMBERS HOUSTON BURLESON POLK WHARTON COLORADO TRINITY WALLER MONTGOMERY MADISON JACKSON GRIMES SAN JACINTO LIBERTY WALKER BRAZOS (SEE THE LINK...ALL LOWER CASE HTTP://WEBGIS.TAMU.EDU/TFS/ KBDI_DAILY/ KBDICOUNTY.PNG). RESTRICTIONS/ACTIONS... ACCORDING TO THE TEXAS FOREST SERVICE WEB SITE ON AUGUST 19 2009... (HTTP://TFSFRP.TAMU.EDU/WILDFIRES/DECBAN.PNG)...A BURN BAN IS IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: MADISON...WALKER...LIBERTY...CHAMBERS...MATAGORDA...HOUSTON... BRAZORIA...HARRIS...AUSTIN...BRAZOS...SAN JACINTO... WHARTON... WALLER...MONTGOMERY...WALLER...AUSTIN...WASHINGTON...GRIMES... JACKSON... TRINITY...FORT BEND...GALVESTON AND COLORADO COUNTIES. 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 WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHEAST TEXAS ON FRIDAY AND SLOWLY CRAWL ACROSS THE AREA. THE FRONT IS EXPECTED TO SERVE AS A FOCUS FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ON FRIDAY. RAINFALL SHOULD BE WIDESPREAD BUT HEAVY AMOUNTS ARE NOT EXPECTED. DRIER AIR WILL WORK INTO THE REGION OVER THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK...AND PROBABLY COOLER OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURES. BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL DEVELOP OVER TEXAS. THIS WILL HELP TO LESSEN THE CAP AND ALLOW GULF MOISTURE TO STREAM INTO EAST TEXAS. RAIN CHANCES ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE AGAIN LATE NEXT WEEKEND AND INTO THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND. THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON OR AROUND AUGUST 27 2009. $$ CR