Name: Drought in Texas, January 1 to 31, 2021
Start: 2021-01-01T00:00
End: 2021-01-31T23:59
Location: Texas

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 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: None recorded
Events: 8

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 EWX wrote it up.

Near normal rainfall during January was not enough to alleviate drought conditions in eight counties in South Central Texas. Zavala County remained in Extreme (D3) Drought. Bandera, Comal, and Uvalde Counties improved from D3 to Severe (D2) Drought. Bexar, Dimmit, Frio, and Medina stayed in D2. San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Uvalde were in Stage 1 water restrictions. The Edwards Aquifer was 4.3 feet below normal. Of the counties in D2 or worse drought, only Comal and Uvalde did not have outdoor burn bans in effect.

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 Austin/San Antonio, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 31, 10:52 PM CST, 1 hour 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 31, 10:52 PM CST, 1 hour 8 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio TX
1052 PM CST Thu Dec 31 2020

.AVIATION...
MVFR conditions are expected across KAUS and KSAT through 11Z Friday
as wrap-around moisture lingers around while the upper level
disturbance moves across northeast Texas. Otherwise, expect VFR
conditions for most of the forecast period across area terminals.
Area forecast soundings showing increased moisture in a shallow layer
affecting KAUS and decided to have a line with MVFR conditions around
18Z with VFR conditions coming back by 03Z SAT.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 914 PM CST Thu Dec 31 2020/

UPDATE...
The wintry mix of rain/graupel/sleet and snow came to an end this
evening which allowed us to cancel early both Winter Storm Warning
and Winter Weather Advisory. A cold and dry night awaits for the
welcoming of 2021 across the area with temperatures in the upper 20s
to lower 30s across the Hill Country to the mid 30s along the I-35
corridor to upper 30s across the southwest counties.

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 611 PM CST Thu Dec 31 2020/

AVIATION...
/00Z TAFS/
The upper level disturbance continues to push to the northeast and
away from South Central Texas later tonight. In the meantime, wrap-
around precipitation in a wintry mix form of rain/graupel and snow is
possible across the western and northern Hill Country (south of area
terminals) through midnight tonight. MVFR cigs are expected tonight
across the I-35 corridor sites as the upper disturbance moves into
northeast Texas. VFR conditions are expected first at KDRT around
07Z Friday and around 09Z to 11Z for KSAT, KSSF and KAUS. West to
northwest winds of 8 to 12 knots are expected across the I-35
airports through the period. KDRT will continue breezy with wind
gusts up to 27 knots for the next hour and then the winds
significantly diminish to 15 knots or less through the forecast time
frame.

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 442 PM CST Thu Dec 31 2020/

UPDATE...
With snow accumulation reports coming in from Gillespie County and
additional snow amounts of one and up to two inches through this
evening, we decided to upgrade the Winter Weather Advisory to a
Winter Storm Warning for Gillespie County through midnight tonight.
Highest snow amounts are likely to occur over the western part of
the county.

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 229 PM CST Thu Dec 31 2020/

SHORT TERM (Tonight through Friday Night)...

The upper level low is moving into South Texas and will continue to
move toward the northeast tonight. An area of low pressure has
developed near the Texas coast along the frontal boundary. Winds
across our CWA are from the northwest. Temperatures and dewpoints
were mostly in the 30s to lower 40s. The upper low will eject across
Texas tonight and move into Oklahoma. Precipitation will be moving
out of our CWA with the only chances this evening across the northern
tier of the area. The area north of a line from Comstock to
Fredericksburg to Jarrell should see a mix of rain and snow or all
snow. An additional 1/4" of snow is possible in this area especially
the western part of it. We will continue the Winter Storm Warning and
Winter Weather Advisory until midnight. All precipitation should
come to an end by around midnight. Cold advection will continue
overnight bringing a cold start to 2021. Low temperatures New Year's
Day will be below freezing over most of the CWA with only the eastern
counties staying above 32 degrees.

High pressure will build across the region in the wake of the
cyclone Friday and bring a chilly day on New Year's Day, in spite of
sunny skies. Northwesterly breezes will continue through the day.
Friday night the winds will decrease and along with clear skies will
result in good radiational cooling. Saturday morning lows will be
below freezing across nearly all of the CWA.

LONG TERM (Saturday through Thursday)...

The first weekend of 2021 will start off cold with temperatures in
the middle to upper 20s west, and lower to middle 30s east. We'll be
under the influence of a sfc high, with plenty of sunshine and light
WNW winds of 5-10 mph. This weekend is the perfect opportunity to get
outdoors, albeit with a nice warm jacket. Expect temperatures to be
about 5-10 degrees below average with highs general in the mid to
upper 50s, with some spots in our southern zones making it into the
lower 60s. More of the same can be expected for Sunday with slightly
warmer afternoon temps closer to normal, in the 60s for most of
South-Central Texas.

The surface high slowly slides east on Monday, opening the door back
up for return flow and southerly winds back into South-Central Texas,
along with a slow warming trend through midweek. As moisture begins
to slowly return, that will set the stage for another shot at rain
and thunderstorms by Wednesday. The GFS seems to be the stronger
offering, bringing the upper level low further south into western Texas,
while the ECMWF/CMC keep the upper trough more open and slightly
weaker, situated further north over eastern Kansas. Opted to go with
a blend of guidance as it's still nearly a week out. Bumped up PoPs
just slightly in the 20-30% range starting early Wednesday AM and
pushing east of the Coastal Plains by sunset Wednesday. There will be
some instability to work with, with 500-1000 J/kg of SBCAPE and
0-6km bulk shear of 40-50 kts over the Coastal Plains Wednesday
afternoon, so a few strong storms are possible generally east of a
Austin to Luling to Kenedy line. That system quickly lifts northward
and a cold front comes racing through South-Central Texas Wednesday
afternoon/evening. The airmass behind this front doesn't look to be
of a polar origin, so temperatures shouldn't fall drastically behind
this front.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Austin Camp Mabry              35  52  33  58  35 /  10   0   0   0   0
Austin Bergstrom Intl Airport  34  54  32  60  32 /  10   0   0   0   0
New Braunfels Muni Airport     32  57  34  63  35 /   0   0   0   0   0
Burnet Muni Airport            33  48  30  56  33 /  60   0   0   0   0
Del Rio Intl Airport           32  54  31  59  32 /  10   0   0   0   0
Georgetown Muni Airport        34  50  31  56  33 /  40   0   0   0   0
Hondo Muni Airport             30  57  30  62  31 /  10   0   0   0   0
San Marcos Muni Airport        32  55  31  60  32 /   0   0   0   0   0
La Grange - Fayette Regional   36  56  35  59  35 /   0   0   0   0   0
San Antonio Intl Airport       33  56  34  61  36 /  -    0   0   0   0
Stinson Muni Airport           32  57  33  61  34 /  -    0   0   0   0

&&

.EWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.
&&

Short-Term/Aviation...17
Long-Term...Hampshire

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 31, 9:16 PM CST, 2 hours 44 minutes before

Hazardous Weather Outlook...UPDATED
National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio TX
916 PM CST Thu Dec 31 2020

TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-020330-
Llano-Burnet-Williamson-Val Verde-Edwards-Real-Kerr-Bandera-
Gillespie-Kendall-Blanco-Hays-Travis-Bastrop-Lee-Kinney-Uvalde-
Medina-Bexar-Comal-Guadalupe-Caldwell-Fayette-Maverick-Zavala-
Frio-Atascosa-Wilson-Karnes-Gonzales-De Witt-Lavaca-Dimmit-
916 PM CST Thu Dec 31 2020

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for South-Central Texas..

.DAY ONE...Tonight.

No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday.

No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not anticipated.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Dec 31, 6:37 PM CST, 5 hours 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
637 PM CST THU DEC 31 2020

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0637 PM     SNOW             MOUNTAIN HOME           30.18N 99.37W
12/31/2020  E1.8 INCH        KERR               TX   PUBLIC

&&

HAMPSHIRE

Local storm report, Dec 31, 8:22 PM CST, 3 hours 38 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
822 PM CST THU DEC 31 2020

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0500 PM     SNOW             12 E PANDALE            30.20N 101.35W
12/31/2020  E3.0 INCH        VAL VERDE          TX   PUBLIC

&&

HAMPSHIRE

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Bandera

When: January 1, 12:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Bandera forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 29.747, -99.246 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Near normal rainfall during January was not enough to alleviate drought conditions in eight counties in South Central Texas. Zavala County remained in Extreme (D3) Drought. Bandera, Comal, and Uvalde Counties improved from D3 to Severe (D2) Drought. Bexar, Dimmit, Frio, and Medina stayed in D2. San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Uvalde were in Stage 1 water restrictions. The Edwards Aquifer was 4.3 feet below normal. Of the counties in D2 or worse drought, only Comal and Uvalde did not have outdoor burn bans in effect.

Drought, Bexar

When: January 1, 12:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Bexar forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 29.449, -98.520 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Near normal rainfall during January was not enough to alleviate drought conditions in eight counties in South Central Texas. Zavala County remained in Extreme (D3) Drought. Bandera, Comal, and Uvalde Counties improved from D3 to Severe (D2) Drought. Bexar, Dimmit, Frio, and Medina stayed in D2. San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Uvalde were in Stage 1 water restrictions. The Edwards Aquifer was 4.3 feet below normal. Of the counties in D2 or worse drought, only Comal and Uvalde did not have outdoor burn bans in effect.

Drought, Comal

When: January 1, 12:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Comal forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 29.808, -98.278 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Near normal rainfall during January was not enough to alleviate drought conditions in eight counties in South Central Texas. Zavala County remained in Extreme (D3) Drought. Bandera, Comal, and Uvalde Counties improved from D3 to Severe (D2) Drought. Bexar, Dimmit, Frio, and Medina stayed in D2. San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Uvalde were in Stage 1 water restrictions. The Edwards Aquifer was 4.3 feet below normal. Of the counties in D2 or worse drought, only Comal and Uvalde did not have outdoor burn bans in effect.

Drought, Uvalde

When: January 1, 12:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Uvalde forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 29.357, -99.762 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Near normal rainfall during January was not enough to alleviate drought conditions in eight counties in South Central Texas. Zavala County remained in Extreme (D3) Drought. Bandera, Comal, and Uvalde Counties improved from D3 to Severe (D2) Drought. Bexar, Dimmit, Frio, and Medina stayed in D2. San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Uvalde were in Stage 1 water restrictions. The Edwards Aquifer was 4.3 feet below normal. Of the counties in D2 or worse drought, only Comal and Uvalde did not have outdoor burn bans in effect.

Drought, Dimmit

When: January 1, 12:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Dimmit forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 28.423, -99.757 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Near normal rainfall during January was not enough to alleviate drought conditions in eight counties in South Central Texas. Zavala County remained in Extreme (D3) Drought. Bandera, Comal, and Uvalde Counties improved from D3 to Severe (D2) Drought. Bexar, Dimmit, Frio, and Medina stayed in D2. San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Uvalde were in Stage 1 water restrictions. The Edwards Aquifer was 4.3 feet below normal. Of the counties in D2 or worse drought, only Comal and Uvalde did not have outdoor burn bans in effect.

Drought, Frio

When: January 1, 12:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Frio forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 28.868, -99.108 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Near normal rainfall during January was not enough to alleviate drought conditions in eight counties in South Central Texas. Zavala County remained in Extreme (D3) Drought. Bandera, Comal, and Uvalde Counties improved from D3 to Severe (D2) Drought. Bexar, Dimmit, Frio, and Medina stayed in D2. San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Uvalde were in Stage 1 water restrictions. The Edwards Aquifer was 4.3 feet below normal. Of the counties in D2 or worse drought, only Comal and Uvalde did not have outdoor burn bans in effect.

Drought, Medina

When: January 1, 12:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Medina forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 29.356, -99.110 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Near normal rainfall during January was not enough to alleviate drought conditions in eight counties in South Central Texas. Zavala County remained in Extreme (D3) Drought. Bandera, Comal, and Uvalde Counties improved from D3 to Severe (D2) Drought. Bexar, Dimmit, Frio, and Medina stayed in D2. San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Uvalde were in Stage 1 water restrictions. The Edwards Aquifer was 4.3 feet below normal. Of the counties in D2 or worse drought, only Comal and Uvalde did not have outdoor burn bans in effect.

Drought, Zavala

When: January 1, 12:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Zavala forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 28.866, -99.761 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Near normal rainfall during January was not enough to alleviate drought conditions in eight counties in South Central Texas. Zavala County remained in Extreme (D3) Drought. Bandera, Comal, and Uvalde Counties improved from D3 to Severe (D2) Drought. Bexar, Dimmit, Frio, and Medina stayed in D2. San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Uvalde were in Stage 1 water restrictions. The Edwards Aquifer was 4.3 feet below normal. Of the counties in D2 or worse drought, only Comal and Uvalde did not have outdoor burn bans in effect.

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 2021 Every state in 2021 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, January 2021

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: 939349, 939350, 939351, 939352, 939353, 939354, 939355, 939356.