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Droughts?

Started by BigMattFromTexas, August 07, 2011, 12:05:17 AM

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BigMattFromTexas

Here in Texas, especially West Texas, we're in a bad drought. Here in Angelo, we have three lakes, O.C. Fisher, Twin Buttes Reservoir, and Lake Nasworthy (Nastywater). O.C. Fisher is almost completely dry, and turned to a blood red color. Twin Buttes apparently is going down fast, and Nasworthy, is our primary recreation lake, so the city will keep pumping water into that.. But San Angelo is on less than two years of water, and we can only water once every 7 days, once every 14 starting November.

San Angelo is normally at, at least 10" of rain by August, but we're down about 7.5" of rain. Back to Twin Buttes, it's at about 6.9% capacity, Nasworthy is at 76.7%, and O.C. Fisher is less than 1%.
O.C. Fisher dam, at time of completion, it was, I think, the 3rd longest dam in North America. And was built to contain water, almost flooding the city of San Angelo. The weird thing is that the original Tom Green County seat, Ben Ficklin, TX, was destroyed by a flood, and now we're being destroyed by a drought. The sad thing is that in my lifetime, I've seen that lake at up to 20% capacity.
San Angelo experienced 110 degrees in May.. And now we have an average temp of 87 degrees, and we've had at least 90% of our summer over 100 degrees. Just a normal summer in west Texas..

QuoteJuly 2011 was the warmest month ever recorded statewide for Texas, with data going back to 1895, according to preliminary records at the National Climatic Data Center. The average temperature of 87.2 degrees broke the previous record of 86.5 degrees set in 1998. The June average temperature of 85.2 was a record for that month and now ranks fifth warmest overall.

– Rainfall totals were also unusually light across the state. The July monthly total of 0.72 inches ranks third driest, surpassed by the 0.69 inches recorded in both 1980 and 2000. This is the fifth consecutive month in which precipitation totals were among the 10 driest for that month.

– Among the other rainfall records set in July: least year-to-date precipitation (6.53 inches; historical average 16.03 inches; previous record 9.36 inches in 1917); driest consecutive 8, 9 and 10 months on record (7.25 inches 8.35 inches, and 9.17 inches respectively); and driest 12 months ending in July (15.16 inches, previous record 16.46 inches in 1925).

Texas would need more than 4.5 inches of rain in the next two months to avoid breaking the 1956 record for driest 12 consecutive months, he adds.

– The most severe Texas drought overall is still the 1950-1957 drought. During the most intense year of that drought – 1956 – Texas set its all-time record for lowest 12-month precipitation, 13.69 inches ending in September.

O.C. Fisher and drought info: http://blog.chron.com/newswatch/2011/08/expert-texas-is-in-its-worst-1-year-drought-ever/
Blood Red Lake: http://www.livescience.com/15346-texas-lake-blood-red.html
Sad Historic Flood in Angelo: http://www.familyoldphotos.com/tx/2s/san_angelo_texas_flood_august_3.htm


Brandon

Meanwhile, we've had our wettest July ever, after no rain for about three weeks.  However, we are running a water surplus here for the year, which is a good thing.  The Lakes are up in depth, and we have enough draft along the rivers for barges.  Now all we need is a few weekly rains here and there with a drying period for the crops in September/October.

NOAA July Precip: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=lot&storyid=71677&source=0

Regarding both the wetness here and the drought in Texas: http://blog.chicagoweathercenter.com/2011/08/tims-weather-world-recent-downpours-here-but-drought-elsewhere.html  Nice map.

I think part of the reason for your drought is the heat dome that just won't go away (not unlike those in the 1930s, same area).
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

vdeane

Started with extremely wet weather, but it's starting to dry out.  It started out with water so high that some relatives of mine on Canandaigua Lake had some dock pieces destroyed because they got washed out, but they just used a shorter dock because the water was high enough. Now the water is so low that they may have to push the boat out because they can't run the motor with the water so low.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

3467

Parts of Illinois south of 80 are very dry,not like Texas.
I heard one report if Texas becasme a desert it would be teh worlds 7th largest. I looked for teh story on the internet and never found it .
Both the wet and dry are nasty feedback processes
The most amazing thing I have seen about the Texas drought was the disintegration of teh tropicl storm as it hit land in south Texas

Big Matt do you have any water conservation rules in effect?

3467

http://drought.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/drought.html?map=%2Fwww%2Fdrought%2Fweb_pages%2Fdrought.map&program=%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmapserv&root=%2Fwww%2Fdrought2%2F&map_web_imagepath=%2Ftmp%2F&map_web_imageurl=%2Ftmp%2F&map_web_template=%2Fdrought.html

Its a global drought monitor map with news items. The ones from texas sound terrible-Starving bats ,rabid animals.
A farm show here said the ground may be to dry for wheat planting.

Desert Man

All this talk on heat "dome" waves and droughts in climates not associated with desert-like temps., does it make one think we are in fact having climate change...or proof of global warming? The heat index reportedly reached 134F/50+ C in Dayton, Ohio a month ago (was it July 18?) when the air temp was 105F/30-35? C, because the humidity was about 80%. In Palm Desert Cal. the air temp was 104F but felt like 101 degrees!
Get your kicks...on Route 99! Like to turn 66 upside down. The other historic Main street of America.

Brandon

^^ Climate change is always occurring; climate has never been stable, nor should we ever expect it to be.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

Alex

We were under an exceptional drought until two rounds of rain gave us a total of 5.5 inches of rain last month. Then we had a few more inches toward month's end in a round of storms. It lowered our status from exceptional to severe. Been overall very dry since last summer with the exception of July otherwise.

Definitely check out the US Drought Monitor web site:




The US Drought Monitor is updated every week (the online map changes on Thursday of the week). You can view regional and state level maps and see a map history as well.

3467

Yes we were warmers as a plnet in the Paeocene=Eocene thermal Maximum when there was a large amount of mentahne pumped in the atmosphere ......whoops seems there is some leaking from the arctic now.......and after being quiet for a long time solar activity is pickeing up.
Climate denialists alwasy point to the sun -well solar activity has been very low during the last decade or so

texaskdog

We hike all the time.  Turkey Creek once had 17 low-water crossings, now it has none.  Pretty much every creek is completely dry now.

BigMattFromTexas

^ How's Barton Creek looking nowadays, in Austin? I'd imagine it's pretty low..

In San Angelo, the Concho River in some parts is dry..

Conco River dry:
http://youtu.be/gCWq8Ps5FzE
O.C. Fisher dry:
http://youtu.be/Khm7VcOzUY0
BigMatt

texaskdog

Barton pool is full of course.  The creek has been just a bunch of rocks for months.  Of course Town Lake is full and not even low though.

BigMattFromTexas

I saw some areal videos of Lake Travis from June, it looked pretty bad. It's pretty sad how stuff is drying up though..
BigMatt

texaskdog

well it was dry 2 years ago but not last year.  it comes and goes.  it'll come back.

ftballfan

It's been mostly a dry summer here, but we're still not in a drought area due to a historically wet April and May (not all of it rain; my high school had a snow day on April 20 this year).

BigMattFromTexas

I have faith that we'll get rain again, but to fill up our lakes around here, it's said that it'll take a flood.. And I don't think we can just order up a flood.

It should be interesting to see it here in San Angelo in two years. Sense we're living on less than two years of water.. :no:
BigMatt

Scott5114

We just got some thunderstorms here in Oklahoma. Doubt it will be enough to completely break the drought (only 1" today), but it was enough to hold today's high down to 82°, which is great after a month and a half of 100°+. Hopefully Texas will get some relief soon as well.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

BigMattFromTexas

^ It was 82 at 10 today.... Yesterday's high way 106. But we got some rain!! Well not my house.... But the area did!
BigMatt

ftballfan


BigMattFromTexas

Aghh! I left town for my high school football scrimmage, and I hear that it's flooding in Angelo!! And right now, it's only 75. It hasn't been 75 degrees in August during the day in, I don't know how long. But the high Monday is supposed to be like 98, then 101 on Tuesday..
BigMatt

texaskdog

In 2.5 weeks we saw rain in Lubbock, Grand Canyon, Torrey, Moab, and Ouray.  Still nothing in Austin :P

Stephane Dumas

I spotted a picture of fire visible from far away. http://jalopnik.com/5837724/it-looks-like-all-of-texas-is-on-fire Is it I-20 or I-35?

txstateends

Quote from: Stephane Dumas on September 06, 2011, 05:10:37 PM
I spotted a picture of fire visible from far away. http://jalopnik.com/5837724/it-looks-like-all-of-texas-is-on-fire Is it I-20 or I-35?

That pic is actually in the vicinity of Bastrop, ESE of Austin.  The road is TX 21-TX 71.  Much of the fire there was in and around the Bastrop State Park.  They lost 95% of the tree growth there to the fires.  It was by far the biggest of all the fires in TX.
\/ \/ click for a bigger image \/ \/

texaskdog

#23


Walnut Creek now looks like an abandonded road.  This is in North Austin.

Fixed IMG tag, but your URL is invalid...



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