Drought in Texas, July 1 to 31, 2001

After receiving slightly above average rainfall amounts in May, most of the South Plains, extreme southern Texas Panhandle, and Rolling Plains experienced very dry conditions in the months of June and July. In fact, little to no precipitation occurred across the area during those two months due to a warm, subtropical high pressure system that dominated the weather across the south central portion of the country through the early summer months. Rainfall deficits of nearly four inches on average were calculated for the months of June and July at most of the NWS cooperative observing sites across the region. In addition to the persistent dry weather pattern that West Texas experienced, daytime temperatures routinely soared well above seasonal averages. The daily high temperature measured in Paducah was 100 degrees or more on 27 days during the month of July. A number of other stations including Childress, Aspermont, and Guthrie reached 100 degrees on at least 23 days during the month. The monthly average temperature of 85.3 degrees at the Lubbock International Airport made this month the second warmest on record since 1914.The combination of prolonged heat and lack of rain significantly stressed agriculture across the South Plains, extreme southern Texas Panhandle, and Rolling Plains with dryland crops suffering the most. More details, including rough estimates of crop damage, will be included in later months after the extent of the drought is better determined.