SUMMARY: After a record warm September, October came in cooler than normal. Drought coverage decreased from 52 percent to 32 percent. The El Niño Southern Oscillation is expected to remain in neutral conditions through the spring.
Author: Robert Mace
Robert Mace is the Executive Director and Chief Water Policy Officer at The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment and a Professor of Practice in the Department of Geography at Texas State University. Robert has over 30 years of experience in hydrology, hydrogeology, stakeholder processes, and water policy, mostly in Texas.
outlook+water: October 2019
SUMMARY: September was the warmest on record for Texas. The High Plains and Southeast Texas are out of drought, but about 50 percent of Texas remains in an intensifying drought. Drought conditions are expected to persist for much of the state through at least January.
outlook+water: September 2019
SUMMARY: Imelda was the fifth wettest tropical storm to hit the continental United States. August was the second warmest on record and the warmest since 2011. The state went from 22 percent in drought a month ago to 52 percent today with 72 percent of the state either in drought or abnormally dry. The big water news this month is Imelda, who started as an upper-level low on September 14 west of Florida. By September 17,
outlook+water: August 2019
SUMMARY: Much of the state saw less than normal rainfall over the past month. The state went from less than 7% either abnormally dry or in drought on July 16 to more than 72% on August 20. Statewide reservoir storage remains above normal. El Niño has fizzled with La Nada conditions projected through the winter. The drought is expected to persist across the state and expand in South Texas. At the end of July, I
outlook+water: July 2019
SUMMARY: Four of the last eight years have been warmer than the Dust Bowl. The rains appear to have stopped for much of the state. Storage in Elephant Butte Reservoir is the highest it’s been since June 2010. El Niño is expected to fizzle into La Nada over the next two months with La Nada conditions projected through the winter. The drought in South Texas and the Lower Rio Grande is expected to persist and