Drought in Texas, June 1 to 30, 2009

While locally heavy rains fell in portions of Deep South Texas at the end of May and early June, much of Kenedy County escaped with very little rainfall, except for the western third of the County. Since Kenedy, a coastal county, tends to receive more rain than locations farther west on average, the departure from normal continued to grow, and exceptional (D4) drought continued across all but the southwest corner, where extreme (D3) drought persisted.

The increasing dearth of cattle feed was causing some producers to liquidate their herds by month's end. As of this writing, no dollar values had been received for damages through June.

While locally heavy rains fell in portions of the Lower Rio Grande Valley at the end of May and early June, the eastern third of Willacy County escaped with very little rainfall, while the central and western sections only received some needed rainfall on June 1st. Since Willacy, a coastal county, tends to receive more rain on average than counties farther west, the departure from normal continued to grow, and exceptional (D4) drought held across the northeastern portion through the entire month. The needed rainfall, mainly along and west of Federal Highway 77, cut drought values to extreme (D3), with a sliver of reduced drought to severe (D2) in far west Willacy County near the Hidalgo County line from June 9th through the 29th.

The increasing dearth of cattle feed was causing some producers to liquidate their herds by month's end. In addition, dryland crops were beginning to wither from the combination of drought, heat, wind, and sun angle; irrigation was allowing them to hold on but damages were likely underway. As of this writing, no dollar values had been received for damages through June.

Drought index calculations carrying over from late May before rains after Memorial Day maintained a mix of extreme (west portion) to exceptional (east portion) drought across Cameron County on the first of June.

While locally heavy rains fell in portions of Deep South Texas at the end of May and early June, much of Brooks County escaped with very little rainfall, except for the western and southern portion of the County, mainly on June 3rd. Through June 29th, the northern half of the county remained in exceptional (D4) drought, while the southern half remained in extreme (D3) drought, as rangelands dried up under increasing heat, continued daytime breezes, low humidity, and high sun angle. By the 30th, exceptional drought expanded to cover all but the extreme southern sliver of the county.

The increasing dearth of cattle feed was causing some producers to liquidate their herds by month's end from South Texas into Deep South Texas. As of this writing, no dollar values had been received for damages through June.

Jim Hogg County, benefiting from a band of heavy rainfall early on May 28th, saw its drought level drop across the western half from extreme (D3) to moderate to severe (D1 and D2) from the 2nd through the 29th. Elsewhere, a relative lack of rainfall compared to average allowed extreme drought to hold through most of the month.

By month's end, cattle herds were being sold in portions of Deep South Texas as necessary feed supplies dwindled. No damage estimates were available as of this writing from Jim Hogg County.

The western portion of the Lower Rio Grande Valley (Hidalgo, Starr Counties) on into the Rio Grande Plains of Zapata County received enough relief from late May and early June rainfall to begin a gradual, though temporary, improvement in drought conditions from severe (D2) to extreme (D3) down below critical levels, reaching moderate (D1) intensity by the 9th. In Starr County, conditions improved from severe to moderate by June 9th. Much of the improvement is due to observed rainfall compared with long term averages, which are drier than locations farther east.

The western portion of the Lower Rio Grande Valley (Hidalgo, Starr Counties) on into the Rio Grande Plains of Zapata County received enough relief from late May and early June rainfall to begin a gradual, though temporary, improvement in drought conditions from severe (D2) to extreme (D3) down below critical levels, reaching moderate (D1) intensity by the 9th. In Hidalgo County, conditions improved from severe (all but extreme north and east which was extreme through June 1st) to moderate by June 9th. Much of the improvement is due to observed rainfall compared with long term averages, which are a bit drier than locations farther east.

Lack of significant rainfall along the Willacy County coastline, even during the eleven day period between May 24th and June 3rd, held drought conditions at exceptional (D4) through the entire month of June, 2009.

Some welcome rains during the final week of May allowed the drought index to relax in early June, but not after holding at exceptional (D4) levels to begin the month near the coast of Cameron County.

Locally heavy rainfall overnight on May 27th into the early morning of May 28th was absorbed into the drought monitor statistics during the first week of June. Until June 2nd, however, conditions remained at severe (D2) levels before returning to moderate (D1) levels. Levels would remain unchanged through June despite little or no rainfall, due to low monthly climatological averages in the Rio Grande Plains for June.