PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
721 PM CST WED DEC 31 1997
...WEST CENTRAL TEXAS WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS OF 1997...
OVERALL...WEST CENTRAL TEXAS EXPERIENCED A COOLER AND WETTER YEAR
THAN NORMAL. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR IN ABILENE WAS 63.3
DEGREES...OR 1.3 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. SIMILAR TOTALS WERE FOUND FOR
SAN ANGELO...WHERE THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 63.7 DEGREES OR 1.2
DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. AFTER A DRY START TO THE YEAR...HEAVY RAINFALL
FROM LATE WINTER THROUGH EARLY SUMMER...AND AGAIN IN DECEMBER...
HELPED RAINFALL TOTALS FOR THE YEAR CLIMB ABOVE NORMAL. ABILENE ENDED
UP WITH 27.08 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION...OR 2.68 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL.
SAN ANGELO RECEIVED 23.38 INCHES...OR 2.93 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL.
THE YEAR BEGAN WITH RECORD WARMTH...WITH TEMPERATURES REACHING THE
70S AND LOWER 80S ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS FOR THE FIRST FOUR DAYS
OF 1997. HOWEVER...AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT BROUGHT AN ABRUPT HALT TO THE
WARM WEATHER. JUST A FEW DAYS LATER ON JANUARY 6TH AND 7TH...SECTIONS
OF THE NORTHERN EDWARDS PLATEAU...SOUTHEAST CONCHO VALLEY...AND
NORTHWEST HILL COUNTRY PICKED UP 2 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOWFALL...CLOSING
SCHOOLS AND CAUSING HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. A SECOND WINTER
STORM STRUCK NEARLY THE SAME AREA JUST A FEW DAYS LATER...WHEN 2 TO 3
INCHES OF SNOWFALL AND ACCUMULATIONS OF SLEET OCCURRED ON THE 12TH
AND 13TH...CLOSING INTERSTATE 10 FROM JUNCTION WESTWARD TO FORT
STOCKTON.
FEBRUARY BROUGHT SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL TO WEST CENTRAL TEXAS WHICH
BEGAN TO EASE THE DROUGHT THAT HAD GRIPPED THE REGION THROUGH MOST OF
1996. SAN ANGELO SET A RECORD FOR THE WETTEST FEBRUARY EVER WITH A
TOTAL OF 4.54 INCHES. THE MOST NOTEWORTHY EVENT IN FEBRUARY OCCURRED
OVERNIGHT ON THE 19TH AND INTO THE 20TH WHERE HEAVY RAIN AND NUMEROUS
THUNDERSTORMS CREATED ISOLATED SEVERE WEATHER AND LOCALIZED AREAS OF
FLOODING. ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL CONTINUED THROUGH MARCH AND APRIL
OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS...WHILE
UNUSUALLY COOL WEATHER PREVAILED DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL. SAN
ANGELO RECEIVED ITS COOLEST APRIL ON RECORD...WHILE ABILENE RECEIVED
ITS SECOND COOLEST APRIL ON RECORD. RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES AT OR
BELOW FREEZING OCCURRED REGIONWIDE ON THE MORNINGS OF THE 12TH
THROUGH 14TH...WHICH WAS ONE OF THE LATEST FREEZES EVER TO OCCUR INTO
THE START OF THE GROWING SEASON. THIS MILD AND WET WEATHER ALSO
HELPED PRODUCE ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE DISPLAYS OF BLUEBONNETS AND
WILDFLOWERS IN MANY YEARS OVER THE REGION.
DURING THE SPRING AND SUMMER...ALTHOUGH SEVERAL SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
EVENTS PRODUCED A FEW LOCALIZED AREAS OF DAMAGE DUE TO HAIL...
WINDS...OR SMALL TORNADOES...THE REGION IN GENERAL RECEIVED FEWER
SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS THAN AVERAGE. HOWEVER...THE MOST SEVERE AND
WIDESPREAD WEATHER RELATED DAMAGE CAME FROM TORRENTIAL RAINFALL AND
FLOODING DURING THE MONTH OF JUNE. WHILE RAINFALL WAS WELL ABOVE
NORMAL ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA...THE HEAVIEST RAIN AND WORST FLOODING
EXTENDED ACROSS THE EASTERN BIG COUNTRY...HEARTLAND...AND THE
NORTHWEST HILL COUNTRY. THE FLOODING WOULD BEGIN ON THE 6TH...WHEN 8
TO 10 INCHES OF RAIN FELL ACROSS PARTS OF SAN SABA AND COLEMAN
COUNTIES. ROADS WERE FLOODED AND A FEW CARS STALLED IN THE HIGH
WATER. THE SECOND EPISODE OF SIGNIFICANT FLOODING BEGAN ON THE 22ND.
THIS FLOODING WAS MORE WIDESPREAD THAN THE FIRST...AFFECTING ALL OF
THE NORTHWEST HILL COUNTRY...THE HEARTLAND...AND THE NORTHEAST CONCHO
VALLEY AND PRODUCING 5 TO 12 INCHES OF RAIN. THE LLANO RIVER AT MASON
WOULD CREST ON THE EVENING OF THE 22ND AT A RECORD 37.2 FEET...0.2
FEET ABOVE THE OLD RECORD AND 31 FEET ABOVE BANKFULL. SIXTEEN HOUSES
WERE DAMAGED...AND AGRICULTURAL LOSSES WERE EXTENSIVE.
UNFORTUNATELY...THE FLOODING OF THE 22ND WOULD ALSO PROVE TO BE FATAL
WHEN A MOTORIST ATTEMPTING TO CROSS A FLOODED LOW WATER CROSSING IN
BROWN COUNTY WAS SWEPT AWAY. A FEW RAINFALL TOTALS FOR THE MONTH OF
JUNE INCLUDE:
MASON.......14.11 INCHES
BURKETT.....12.42 INCHES
SAN SABA....11.45 INCHES
COLEMAN.....10.71 INCHES
TELEGRAPH....9.65 INCHES
THE REMAINDER OF THE SUMMER WAS RELATIVELY DRY WITH NEAR NORMAL
TEMPERATURES...EXCEPT FOR THE BIG COUNTRY WHERE MORE NUMEROUS
THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCED SPOTTY AREAS OF ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL. THE
TEMPERATURE DID NOT REACH 100 DEGREES IN WEST CENTRAL TEXAS UNTIL THE
MIDDLE OF AUGUST.
THE FALL SEASON WAS ALSO DRIER THAN NORMAL WITH ABOVE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURES IN SEPTEMBER...THEN TEMPERATURES DROPPED TO BELOW
SEASONAL NORMALS FOR LATE OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER. THE FIRST FREEZE
OCCURRED ON THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 27 WHICH WAS ABOUT 2 WEEKS EARLIER
THAN THE AVERAGE FIRST FREEZE FOR THE FALL SEASON.
FOR DECEMBER...COOLER AND WETTER THAN NORMAL WEATHER PREVAILED OVER
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS...PARTIALLY DUE TO THE EFFECTS OF EL NINO.
NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE REGION ALMOST RECEIVED THEIR
FIRST WHITE CHRISTMAS IN DECADES...JUST MISSING BY ONE DAY AS SNOW
FELL DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF THE 26TH. SNOWFALL
ACCUMULATIONS WERE 2 TO 4 INCHES ACROSS MOST OF THE BIG COUNTRY...
COUNTRY...AND 1 TO 2 INCHES ACROSS THE CONCHO VALLEY AND THE
HEARTLAND. THE SNOW QUICKLY MELTED DURING THE DAY OF THE 26TH AND
TEMPERATURES GRADUALLY CLIMBED TO NEAR NORMAL LEVELS BY THE FINAL DAY
OF 1997.
$$
PMCCULLOUGH/DEUTSCHENDORF
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