Texas, 2001

Drought in Texas, December 1 to 31, 2001

December 1 to 31, 2001 · NWS LUB · 24 events in 24 counties and zones

24 drought, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 24 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
$420 million
Events
24

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Lubbock, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 30, 2:35 PM CST, 9 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 30, 2:35 PM CST, 9 hours 25 minutes before
SOUTH PLAINS AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
235 PM CST FRI NOV 30 2001

UPPER SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVING ACRS CENTRAL PLAINS TODAY TIGHTENED
GRADIENT UP ENOUGH TO RAISE ADVSIORY FLAGS EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON
FOR NWRN ZONES. PER WEST TEXAS MESONET CURRENT TREND INDICATES
SLOWLY DECREASING WINDS. WILL KEEP BREEZY/WINDY CONDITIONS UNTIL
SUNSET OR SHORTLY THEREAFTER...CANCELLING WIND ADVISORY...THEN
DIMINISHING TO AROUND 10 MPH.

ANOTHER SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL MOVE ACRS THE CENTRAL PLAINS AGAIN
TOMORROW. DO NOT EXPECT AS TIGHT A GRADIENT AS TODAY BUT WE WILL
MAINTAIN A WLY LOW LEVEL FLOW AS PACIFIC FRONT MOVES ACRS THE AREA.
EXPECT BKN-OVC AC/CI TO OVERSPREAD THE FA TONIGHT ASSOCIATED WITH
LIFT FROM UPPER TROUGH...DECREASING TOMORROW AFTN.

REMAINDER OF PERIOD LOOKS QUIET. ZONAL FLOW TO PREDOMINATE WITH
MILD/ABOVE AVERGE TEMPS UNTIL MIDWEEK. WILL CONTINUE WITH SLIGHT
CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND SMALL COOLDOWN THURSDAY AS MEDIUM RANGE MODELS
CONTINUE TO ADVERTISE MEDIUM AMPLITUDE UPPER SHORTWAVE ACRS THE
SRN/CNTL PLAINS MIDWEEK.

FRIONA      28  55  30  63  35 / 0 0 0 0 0
TULIA       28  55  30  63  35 / 0 0 0 0 0
BROWNFIELD  30  56  32  65  37 / 0 0 0 0 0
LUBBOCK     30  56  32  65  37 / 0 0 0 0 0
CHILDRESS   33  58  35  67  37 / 0 0 0 0 0
ASPERMONT   33  57  35  67  39 / 0 0 0 0 0

.LUB...NONE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

24 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Parmer

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Parmer forecast zone
Crop damage
$420 million
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
34.530, -102.784 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The effects of this year's drought became better understood after year-end agricultural reports were completed. These reports, compiled by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service at Texas A&M University, indicated that total crop damage due to the drought of 2001 across the Texas South Plains area was about $420 million. This figure is based on the total cash value of all crops in 2001, compared to the average of the same figure from 1999 to 2000. Dryland crops were hardest hit by the prolonged hot and dry weather that occurred during the early through middle summer months.Cotton is the dominant crop in this region of the state, and not surprisingly, it accounted for roughly 70 percent ($300 million) of the losses this year. Significant losses were also suffered in the wheat ($60 million), grain sorghum ($32 million), and corn ($12 million) crops. Added irrigation costs that were directly related to the drought were estimated at an additional $16 million across the South Plains area this year.

Drought, Bailey

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Bailey forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
34.069, -102.830 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Briscoe

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Briscoe forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
34.530, -101.209 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Castro

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Castro forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
34.530, -102.262 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Childress

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Childress forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
34.529, -100.208 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Cochran

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Cochran forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.604, -102.828 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Cottle

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Cottle forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
34.078, -100.279 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Crosby

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Crosby forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.615, -101.300 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Dickens

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Dickens forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.617, -100.779 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Floyd

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Floyd forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
34.072, -101.303 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Garza

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Garza forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.180, -101.298 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Hale

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Hale forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
34.071, -101.827 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Hall

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Hall forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
34.531, -100.681 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Hockley

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Hockley forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.608, -102.343 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Kent

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Kent forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.181, -100.778 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, King

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
King forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.617, -100.256 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Lamb

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Lamb forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
34.069, -102.352 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Lubbock

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Lubbock forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.610, -101.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Lynn

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Lynn forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.177, -101.816 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Motley

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Motley forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
34.074, -100.780 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Stonewall

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Stonewall forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.179, -100.253 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Swisher

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Swisher forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
34.530, -101.735 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Terry

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Terry forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.174, -102.335 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Yoakum

When
December 1, 12:00 AM CST to December 31, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Yoakum forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
33.173, -102.828 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Drought
A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, December 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5273820, 5273821, 5273822, 5273823, 5273887, 5273888, 5273889, 5273890, 5273891, 5273892, 5273893, 5273894, 5273895, 5273896, 5273897, 5273898, 5273899, 5273900, 5273901, 5273902, 5273903, 5273904, 5273905, 5273906.