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565 AXUS74 KSJT 281840 DGTSJT TXC049-059-081-083-095-105-151-207-235-253-267-307-319-327-353- 399-411-413-417-431-435-441-447-451-290045- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 140 PM CDT THU MAR 28 2013 ...DROUGHT CONDITIONS ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS... THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR (USDM)...ISSUED THROUGH THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER ON MARCH 26...DEPICTS EXTREME TO EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS ACROSS PARTS OF HASKELL... THROCKMORTON...FISHER...JONES...SHACKELFORD...NOLAN...COKE... STERLING...SUTTON...SCHLEICHER...CROCKETT AND MENARD COUNTIES. IMPACTS OF EXCEPTIONAL AND EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS INCLUDE... WIDESPREAD CROP AND PASTURE LOSSES...WIDESPREAD SHORTAGES OF WATER IN RESERVOIRS...STREAMS AND WELLS. THE USDM DEPICTS SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS ACROSS MUCH OF THE REMAINDER OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. IMPACTS OF SEVERE DROUGHT INCLUDE CROP OR PASTURE LOSSES LIKELY...WATER SHORTAGES COMMON...WATER RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... FIRE DANGER IMPACTS. AS OF MARCH 28...THE FOLLOWING WEST CENTRAL TEXAS COUNTIES SUPPORT A COUNTY WIDE OUTDOOR BURN BAN... IRION...SCHLEICHER...SUTTON...CROCKETT...TOM GREEN...CONCHO... COKE...MENARD...MCCULLOCH...RUNNELS...NOLAN...CALLAHAN... SHACKELFORD...FISHER AND THROCKMORTON COUNTIES. THE TEXAS FOREST SERVICE USES THE KEETCH-BYRAM DROUGHT INDEX (KBDI) AS A SYSTEM FOR RELATING CURRENT AND RECENT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO POTENTIAL OR EXPECTED FIRE BEHAVIOR. IT IS A NUMERICAL INDEX CALCULATED DAILY FOR EACH COUNTY. EACH NUMBER IS AN ESTIMATE OF THE AMOUNT OF PRECIPITATION...IN HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH...NEEDED TO BRING THE SOIL BACK TO SATURATION. THE INDEX RANGES FROM 0 TO 800...WITH 0 REPRESENTING A SATURATED SOIL AND 800 A COMPLETELY DRY SOIL. AS OF MARCH 28...THE KEETCH-BYRAM DROUGHT INDEX SHOWS THAT SUTTON...MENARD...SCHLEICHER...KIMBLE... STERLING...FISHER...JONES...HASKELL AND THROCKMORTON COUNTIES FALL WITHIN THE 500 TO 700 RANGE. GENERALLY...THIS RANGE IS TYPICAL OF LATE SUMMER AND EARLY FALL WHERE LOW LITTER AND DUFF LAYERS CONTRIBUTE TO FIRE INTENSITY AND WILL BURN ACTIVELY. THE TEXAS FOREST SERVICE ADVISES TO WATCH OUT FOR KEY WEATHER THRESHOLDS OF WINDS ABOVE 15 MPH AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY BELOW 25 PERCENT. WHEN THESE THRESHOLDS ARE EXCEEDED...EXPECT THE FIRE DANGER WILL BE ELEVATED. AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS. ACCORDING TO THE TEXAS CROP WEATHER REPORT ISSUED MARCH 26 BY THE TEXAS A&M AGRICULTURE PROGRAM...THE FOLLOWING AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS WERE NOTED ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS... ONGOING WARM DRY AND WINDY CONDITIONS WITH LOW HUMIDITY CONTINUED TO DRY OUT SOILS AND STRESS CROPS. WILDFIRE DANGER WAS STILL A GREAT CONCERN AND THERE WERE DAILY RED FLAG WARNINGS IN SOME AREAS. THERE WAS VERY LITTLE FIELD ACTIVITY AS FIELD PREPARATIONS FOR SPRING PLANTING WERE MOSTLY COMPLETED. SOME CORN FARMERS WERE PLANTING BUT MOST WERE EXPECTED TO DELAY PLANTING UNTIL SOIL MOISTURE LEVELS IMPROVED. PRODUCERS WERE SPRAYING HERBICIDES TO CONTROL WINTER WEEDS. WINTER WHEAT WAS IN FAIR TO VERY POOR CONDITION. MANY WHEAT FIELDS WERE BEING GRAZED OUT NOT GROWN FOR GRAIN BUT SOME PRODUCERS HOPED SOME FIELDS COULD BE EVENTUALLY HARVESTED FOR HAY. RANGELAND AND PASTURES SLIGHTLY IMPROVED AS WARM SEASON GRASSES CAME OUT OF DORMANCY. HOWEVER SLOW GRASS GROWTH WAS EXPECTED DUE TO COOL NIGHTS AND NO RAIN. LIVESTOCK REMAINED IN FAIR CONDITION WITH CONTINUED SUPPLEMENTAL FEEDING. STOCK POND WATER LEVELS CONTINUED TO DROP WITH MANY PONDS CRITICALLY LOW OR COMPLETELY DRY. SOME PRODUCERS WERE HAULING WATER. CLIMATE SUMMARY... WEST CENTRAL TEXAS HAS ENDURED VERY DRY CONDITIONS OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS. FROM OCTOBER 1 2012 THRU MARCH 27 2013...THE FOLLOWING PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS WERE RECORDED. ABILENE RECEIVED 3.51 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION. NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THIS PERIOD IS ABOUT 9.52 INCHES. SAN ANGELO RECEIVED 2.49 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION. NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THIS PERIOD IS ABOUT 8.32 INCHES. JUNCTION RECEIVED 3.15 INCHES OF RAIN. NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THIS PERIOD IS ABOUT 10.64 INCHES. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...CPC...INDICATES THAT ENSO NEUTRAL CONDITIONS EXIST AND ARE FAVORED THROUGH SPRING 2013. THE CPC OUTLOOK FOR THE PERIOD APRIL THROUGH JUNE INDICATES THAT WEST CENTRAL TEXAS HAS ENHANCED CHANCES FOR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. THE CPC PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK FOR THE PERIOD APRIL THROUGH JUNE INDICATES THAT THERE ARE ENHANCED CHANCES FOR BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. THE LATEST U.S. SEASONAL DROUGHT OUTLOOK FOR APRIL THROUGH JUNE... ISSUED BY CPC...SHOWS DROUGHT CONDITIONS PERSISTING ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... HYDROLOGIC IMPACTS... ACCORDING TO THE USGS WATERWATCH...GAGED STREAMFLOWS ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS ARE GENERALLY MUCH BELOW NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. RESERVOIR CONDITIONS AS OF MARCH 28... / CURRENT CONSERVATION CURRENT % / ELEVATION CAPACITY CAPACITY CONSERVATION RESERVOIR (FT) (AC-FT) (AC-FT) CAPACITY FORT PHANTOM HILL 1624.24 70030 33675 48 LAKE STAMFORD 1404.92 51570 12485 24 HUBBARD CREEK 1161.49 318070 87620 27 HORDS CREEK LAKE 1883.20 5780 1150 17 LAKE BROWNWOOD 1413.60 131428 68905 54 E.V. SPENCE 1833.86 517272 26200 5 O.C. FISHER 1849.93 119200 0 0 O.H. IVIE 1514.85 554340 114030 20 TWIN BUTTES (N+S) 1888.13 186200 10815 6 LAKE NASWORTHY 1870.36 10108 7690 76 NEXT ISSUANCE... THIS STATEMENT WILL BE UPDATED AS NECESSARY IN RESPONSE TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN CONDITIONS. RELATED WEB SITES... ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CURRENT DROUGHT CONDITIONS MAY BE FOUND AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/: OUR LOCAL DROUGHT WEB PAGE... HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/SJT/?N=DROUGHT HTTP://DROUGHTMONITOR.UNL.EDU/ NOAA DROUGHT PAGE...HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.NOAA.GOV/ OFFICE OF THE TEXAS STATE CLIMATOLOGIST...HTTP://WWW.MET.TAMU.EDU/OSC/ NWS...HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/AHPS/ USGS...HTTP://WATER.USGS.GOV/ USACE...HTTP://WWW.MVR.USACE.ARMY.MIL/ CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER /CPC/...HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... THE DROUGHT MONITOR IS A MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT INVOLVING NOAA/S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER...THE USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER CLIMATOLOGISTS AND THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...STATE COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICES...THE USDA...USACE AND USGS. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS... IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT...PLEASE CONTACT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE 7654 KNICKERBOCKER ROAD SAN ANGELO TEXAS 76904 PHONE: 325-944-9445 NWS.SANANGELO@NOAA.GOV $$