Drought in Texas, September 1 to 30, 2011

Name: Drought in Texas, September 1 to 30, 2011
Start: 2011-09-01T00:00
End: 2011-09-30T23:59
Location: Texas

September 1 to 30, 2011 · NWS FWD · 46 events in 46 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 46 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: $1.3 million
Events: 46

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 happened

The episode as NWS FWD wrote it up.

Drought conditions continued to worsen across much of the Fort Worth County Warning Area (CWA) during the month of September due to very little rainfall. All 46 counties in the Fort Worth CWA were experiencing at least extreme drought conditions (D3) throughout the entire month. By the end of the month, 37 out of the 46 counties in the Fort Worth CWA were classified in exceptional drought (D4). Counties along the Interstate 20 corridor continued to experience slightly better drought conditions than counties along the Red River and the counties to the south. Every county had burn bans established by local officials throughout the month.

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 Fort Worth, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 31, 10:34 PM CST, 1 hour 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 10:34 PM CST, 1 hour 26 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
1134 PM CDT WED AUG 31 2011

.AVIATION...
VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THIS TAF CYCLE. WINDS WILL BE 4-8KT
OVERNIGHT AND 8-13 KTS WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS TO 17KTS THURSDAY
AFTERNOON. WINDS WILL BE SOUTHERLY TONIGHT THEN BECOMING
SOUTHEASTERLY THURSDAY MIDDAY THROUGH LATE EVENING. 75

&&

.UPDATE...
THE PREVIOUS FORECAST IS IN GOOD SHAPE...SO ONLY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS WERE
MADE TO THE HOURLY TEMPERATURES/DEWPOINTS FOR THE OVERNIGHT
PERIOD.    58

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 337 PM CDT WED AUG 31 2011/
DEWPOINTS QUICKLY MIXED OUT THIS AFTERNOON AND TEMPERATURES SURPASSED
100 FOR MOST OF NORTH TEXAS. DEWPOINTS ARE IN THE UPPER 40S WEST
OF INTERSTATE 35...RESULTING IN RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES BELOW 20
PERCENT. WINDS HAVE STAYED AROUND 15 MPH WITH GUSTS AROUND 20 MPH
SO RED FLAG CRITERIA HAS NOT BEEN MET. REGARDLESS...THE FIRE
DANGER REMAINS HIGH AND THE LARGE FIRES IN PALO PINTO...WISE...AND
CORYELL COUNTIES CAN BE SEEN ON VISIBLE SATELLITE AND RADAR.

NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE FORECAST PACKAGE WERE NEEDED. THE
UPPER LEVEL RIDGE CONTINUES ITS TREK EAST IN RESPONSE TO THE DEEP
TROUGH ENTERING THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. HIGHS WILL LIKELY REMAIN
NEAR 100 THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. OVER THE WESTERN ZONES...
HIGH TEMPS SHOULD DECREASE A FEW DEGREES ARE THE RIDGE PUSHES
FURTHER EAST. CONVERSELY...THE EASTERN ZONES WILL LIKELY SEE
HIGHS INCREASE A DEGREE OR TWO THURSDAY BEFORE SLOWLY TRENDING
DOWNWARD IN RESPONSE TO EASTERLY FLOW ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY.

AS WAS THE CASE FOR THE PAST TWO DAYS...THE MAIN CHALLENGE FOR THIS
FORECAST PACKAGE IS HOW TO HANDLE THE TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE
GULF OF MEXICO. THE TROPICAL WAVE OF INTEREST MOVED THROUGH THE
YUCATAN STRAIT INTO THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICO THIS AFTERNOON.
UW-CIMSS ANALYSIS SHOWS 30 KTS OF WIND SHEAR ON THE WESTERN SIDE
OF THIS WAVE AND A MODERATE AMOUNT OF LOW LEVEL VORTICITY. SEA
SURFACE TEMPERATURES ARE AROUND 86 DEGREES F.

THE MODELS CONTINUE TO HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME WITH THE DEVELOPMENT
AND TRACK OF THIS SYSTEM BUT HAVE COME INTO SLIGHTLY BETTER
AGREEMENT THIS AFTERNOON. IN FACT...MORE MODELS HAVE STARTED TO
COME INTO AGREEMENT WITH THE NAM WHICH HAS CONSISTENTLY FORECAST A
STRONG TROPICAL SYSTEM JUST OFF THE SOUTHEAST TEXAS COAST FRIDAY
EVENING. THE 12Z CANADIAN AND ECMWF NOW AGREE WITH THE NAM WHILE
THE GFS PROGS A MUCH WEAKER SYSTEM FARTHER SOUTHEAST. AFTER FRIDAY
EVENING THE MODELS DIVERGE ON THE POTENTIAL TRACK OF THE
SYSTEM...VARYING FROM LANDFALL NEAR HOUSTON SATURDAY NIGHT...DRIFTING
IN THE GULF FOR A FEW DAYS...OR MOVING EAST ALONG THE GULF COAST
AND MAKING LANDFALL ALONG THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE MONDAY NIGHT. THE
MODELS WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE DIFFICULTY WITH THE TRACK UNTIL THE
SYSTEM BECOMES BETTER DEFINED. OBSERVATIONS WILL NEED TO BE
WATCHED CLOSELY AS THE WARM GULF WATERS CAN RAPIDLY INTENSIFY
MODERATE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY INTO STRONG TROPICAL CYCLONES. ONE
EXAMPLE WAS HURRICANE HUMBERTO WHICH OCCURRED DURING THE SECOND
WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 2007 AND RAPIDLY INTENSIFIED FROM A CLUSTER OF
THUNDERSTORMS INTO A HURRICANE IN 24 HOURS.

COLD FRONT IS STILL ON TRACK FOR SUNDAY EVENING...WITH
TEMPERATURES BEHIND THE FRONT NEAR SEASONAL NORMALS. IT APPEARS
THE FRONTAL PASSAGE WILL BE DRY BUT THE GFS IS STARTING TO HINT AT
THE POTENTIAL OF SOME PRECIPITATION. THEREFORE...INCLUDED 20 POPS
SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR ALL OF NORTH TEXAS. ALSO INCLUDED
20 POPS FRIDAY EVENING AND ALL DAY SATURDAY FOR THE SOUTHEASTERN
ZONES DUE TO THE POTENTIAL FOR SHOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE
TROPICAL SYSTEM.    42/MM

&&

.CLIMATE... /ISSUED 638 PM CDT WED AUG 31 2011/
PRELIMINARY NUMBERS FOR AUGUST 2011 AND FOR THE JUNE...JULY AND
AUGUST 2011 SUMMER SEASON...HAVE BEEN PLACED ON OUR HOMEPAGE.
HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/FWD

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AT BOTH DFW AND WACO FOR THE THREE MONTH
PERIOD SET NEW RECORDS.  AT WACO...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR
AUGUST 2011 IS 92.9 DEGREES. THIS MAKES AUGUST 2011 NOT ONLY THE
WARMEST AUGUST ON RECORD BUT ALSO THE WARMEST MONTH ON
RECORD...BEATING OUT LAST MONTH/S 91.1 DEGREES. AT DFW...THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE FOR AUGUST 2011 IS 93.4 DEGREES. THIS MAKES AUGUST
2011 NOT ONLY THE WARMEST AUGUST ON RECORD BUT ALSO THE WARMEST
MONTH ON RECORD...BEATING OUT THE 92.0 DEGREES SET IN JULY 1980.

58

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX  82 101  80 100  81 /   5   5   5  10  10
WACO, TX              79 101  81 102  79 /   5   5  10  10  20
PARIS, TX             78 102  77 101  75 /   5   5   5  10  10
DENTON, TX            79 100  76 100  76 /   5   5   5  10  10
MCKINNEY, TX          77 100  75 101  75 /   5   5   5  10  10
DALLAS, TX            83 101  82 100  82 /   5   5   5  10  10
TERRELL, TX           79 101  79 101  79 /   5   5   5  10  10
CORSICANA, TX         79 102  80 100  79 /   5   5  10  10  20
TEMPLE, TX            76 101  78 100  77 /   5  10  10  10  20
MINERAL WELLS, TX     78 100  74  99  74 /   5   5   5  10  10

&&

.FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.

&&

75/

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 31, 8:41 PM CST, 3 hours 19 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
941 PM CDT WED AUG 31 2011

TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-020245-
MONTAGUE-COOKE-GRAYSON-FANNIN-LAMAR-YOUNG-JACK-WISE-DENTON-COLLIN-
HUNT-DELTA-HOPKINS-STEPHENS-PALO PINTO-PARKER-TARRANT-DALLAS-
ROCKWALL-KAUFMAN-VAN ZANDT-RAINS-EASTLAND-ERATH-HOOD-SOMERVELL-
JOHNSON-ELLIS-HENDERSON-COMANCHE-MILLS-HAMILTON-BOSQUE-HILL-NAVARRO-
FREESTONE-ANDERSON-LAMPASAS-CORYELL-BELL-MCLENNAN-FALLS-LIMESTONE-
LEON-MILAM-ROBERTSON-
941 PM CDT WED AUG 31 2011

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN ELEVATED ON THURSDAY
AFTERNOON...MAINLY FOR AREAS WEST OF INTERSTATE 35.

THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEASTERN
PORTIONS OF NORTH TEXAS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...AND ACROSS THE
ENTIRE REGION SUNDAY. A FEW STORMS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE SOUTHEAST
MONDAY MORNING.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

46 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Collin

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Collin forecast zone
Crop damage: $25,000
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 33.188, -96.572 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) throughout the month. The county received very little rainfall and conditions did not improve.

Drought, Dallas

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Dallas forecast zone
Crop damage: $25,000
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 32.767, -96.778 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) throughout the month. The county received very little rainfall and conditions did not improve.

Drought, Denton

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Denton forecast zone
Crop damage: $25,000
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 33.205, -97.117 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) throughout the month. The county received very little rainfall and conditions did not improve.

Drought, Eastland

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Eastland forecast zone
Crop damage: $25,000
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 32.327, -98.832 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) throughout the month. The county received very little rainfall and conditions did not improve.

Drought, Hunt

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Hunt forecast zone
Crop damage: $25,000
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 33.124, -96.085 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) throughout the month. The county received very little rainfall and conditions did not improve.

Drought, Kaufman

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Kaufman forecast zone
Crop damage: $25,000
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 32.599, -96.288 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) throughout the month. The county received very little rainfall and conditions did not improve.

Drought, Rockwall

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Rockwall forecast zone
Crop damage: $25,000
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 32.898, -96.408 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) throughout the month. The county received very little rainfall and conditions did not improve.

Drought, Tarrant

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Tarrant forecast zone
Crop damage: $25,000
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 32.772, -97.291 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) throughout the month. The county received very little rainfall and conditions did not improve.

Drought, Wise

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Wise forecast zone
Crop damage: $25,000
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 33.216, -97.654 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) throughout the month. The county received very little rainfall and conditions did not improve.

Drought, Jack

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Jack forecast zone
Crop damage: $20,000
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 33.234, -98.172 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) at the beginning of the month. With little to no rain, conditions worsened and the county was classified in exceptional drought (D4) by the end of the month.

Drought, Palo Pinto

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Palo Pinto forecast zone
Crop damage: $20,000
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 32.753, -98.313 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)