Texas, 2026

Drought in Texas, January 27 to 31, 2026

January 27 to 31, 2026 · NWS EWX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The I-35 Corridor, Rio Grande and Coastal Plains received less than normal precipitation during the month, and the drought worsened or remained unchanged. Caldwell, Fayette, Guadalupe, Hays, Lavaca, Maverick, Travis, and Zavala Counties went from Severe (D2) Drought category to Extreme (D3) Drought.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
1

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.

The I-35 Corridor, Rio Grande and Coastal Plains received less than normal precipitation during the month, and the drought worsened or remained unchanged. Caldwell, Fayette, Guadalupe, Hays, Lavaca, Maverick, Travis, and Zavala Counties went from Severe (D2) Drought category to Extreme (D3) Drought. Williamson County went from Moderate (D1) Drought to D2. Atascosa, Bastrop, Bexar, Comal, De Witt, Dimmit, Frio, Gonzales, Karnes, Lee, Medina, and Wilson Counties remained in D3. Blanco, Kendall, and Kinney remained in D2. The Edwards Aquifer level was unchanged but was still 39.1 feet below normal. Area reservoirs were below normal conservation levels. Lake Travis dropped 0.5 feet and was 13.8 feet below normal. Canyon Lake dropped 0.6 feet and was 21.0 feet below normal. The 7-day average streamflow was much below (<10%) normal on the Lavaca, Blanco, San Marcos, lower Guadalupe, Medina, lower Nueces, and Atascosa Rivers, and below (10%-24%) normal on the San Gabriel, Colorado, upper Guadalupe, San Antonio, and Frio Rivers. Most water providers encouraged conservation while San Antonio and Universal City imposed stage 3 restrictions and New Braunfels and Austin had stage 2. Of the counties in D2 or worse drought, Atascosa, Bastrop, Blanco, Bexar, Caldwell, Comal, De Witt, Dimmit, Fayette, Frio, Guadalupe, Hays, Karnes, Medina, Wilson, and Zavala had outdoor burn bans in effect at the end of 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 Austin/San Antonio, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 27, 5:38 AM CST, 22 minutes earlier. Its key messages:

  • Extreme Cold Warning through 9 AM CST due to temperatures. Icy roads linger in places, especially Hill Country to Austin area.
  • Slow warming through Thursday, then turning colder Friday into the weekend.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 27, 5:38 AM CST, 22 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio TX
538 AM CST Tue Jan 27 2026

...New AVIATION...

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Extreme Cold Warning through 9 AM CST due to temperatures. Icy roads
  linger in places, especially Hill Country to Austin area.

- Slow warming through Thursday, then turning colder Friday into
  the weekend.

&&

.SHORT TERM...
(Today through Wednesday)
Issued at 1203 AM CST Tue Jan 27 2026

An Arctic airmass remains across South Central Texas. Light winds,
low dewpoints, and only thin cirrus makes for efficient radiational
cooling. However, dewpoints have risen a little and should keep low
temperatures higher. Will maintain the Extreme Cold Warning through
9 AM CST this morning due to lows in the mid teens to lower 20s. A
warming trend begins Tuesday and continues Wednesday as the Arctic
airmass erodes due to daytime mixing with warming mid level
temperatures. Highs warm 5 to 10 degrees Tuesday and another 5 to 10
degrees Wednesday. However, a northerly flow off the snow/ice field
just to our north may stall the warmup or even lower highs across
our Central Texas and northeastern Hill Country areas a few degrees
from Tuesday's. Another hard freeze is expected Tuesday night with
lows in the 20s to near 30 due good radiational cooling. One thing
to monitor is a possibility of late night/early morning freezing fog
as the airmass moistens.

Record low temperatures are in jeopardy for Tuesday the 27th. See
CLIMATE section below for details.

These conditions may cause hypothermia and frostbite if precautions
are not taken. Keep people, pets, plants, and pipes warm, and
practice safe use of space heaters. Icy spots will linger in places,
especially Hill Country to the Austin area through Tuesday. Travel
with extreme caution.

&&

.LONG TERM...
(Wednesday night through Monday)
Issued at 1203 AM CST Tue Jan 27 2026

Warming trend continues with lows within a few degrees either side
of freezing Wednesday night and highs near average Thursday. A cold
front moves across our area late Thursday afternoon into evening.
Any precipitation with this system is now expected to be to our
southeast. In wake of the frontal passage, a cooling trend begins
Friday with hard freezes returning to most areas by the weekend.
Cold weather highlights may be needed. Southerly flow returns on
Sunday bringing a warming trend going into next week.

&&

.AVIATION...
(12Z TAFS)
Issued at 526 AM CST Tue Jan 27 2026

VFR flight conditions prevail. Mid to high level clouds move in
and push west to east across the region, especially for the
northern half, from later this morning through the afternoon
before clearing tonight. We'll also monitor for the low chances
for the development of any patchy freezing fog, mainly around
sunrise both this morning and again Wednesday morning, where
primarily any ice still remains on the ground. Impacts are not
expected at the TAF sites but have elected to add a brief TEMPO
group at KAUS for Wednesday morning with a few very low clouds
around 100 feet, just in case it approaches the site. Light and
variable winds are expected at night while the winds trend of
around 5 to 8 kt during the day from the west-southwest for
today and out of the west-northwest on Wednesday.

&&

.CLIMATE...
Issued at 1203 AM CST Tue Jan 27 2026

Record Low Temperatures

                    Jan 27
Austin Bergstrom   21 (2004/1963)
Austin Camp Mabry  19 (1940)
San Antonio Intl   18 (1897)
Del Rio            24 (1976)

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Austin Camp Mabry              49  28  53  32 /   0   0   0   0
Austin Bergstrom Intl Airport  49  25  54  27 /   0   0   0   0
New Braunfels Muni Airport     50  27  56  31 /   0   0   0   0
Burnet Muni Airport            44  25  49  29 /   0   0   0   0
Del Rio Intl Airport           50  29  59  34 /   0   0   0   0
Georgetown Muni Airport        45  25  49  26 /   0   0   0   0
Hondo Muni Airport             48  24  55  27 /   0   0   0   0
San Marcos Muni Airport        49  26  56  29 /   0   0   0   0
La Grange - Fayette Regional   49  26  53  30 /   0   0   0   0
San Antonio Intl Airport       49  29  57  32 /   0   0   0   0
Stinson Muni Airport           49  29  58  32 /   0   0   0   0

&&

.EWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Extreme Cold Warning until 9 AM CST this morning for TXZ171>173-
183>194-202>209-217>225-228.

&&

SHORT TERM...04
LONG TERM....04
AVIATION...62

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Williamson

When
January 27, 6:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Williamson forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
30.648, -97.601 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The I-35 Corridor, Rio Grande and Coastal Plains received less than normal precipitation during the month, and the drought worsened or remained unchanged. Caldwell, Fayette, Guadalupe, Hays, Lavaca, Maverick, Travis, and Zavala Counties went from Severe (D2) Drought category to Extreme (D3) Drought. Williamson County went from Moderate (D1) Drought to D2. Atascosa, Bastrop, Bexar, Comal, De Witt, Dimmit, Frio, Gonzales, Karnes, Lee, Medina, and Wilson Counties remained in D3. Blanco, Kendall, and Kinney remained in D2. The Edwards Aquifer level was unchanged but was still 39.1 feet below normal. Area reservoirs were below normal conservation levels. Lake Travis dropped 0.5 feet and was 13.8 feet below normal. Canyon Lake dropped 0.6 feet and was 21.0 feet below normal. The 7-day average streamflow was much below (<10%) normal on the Lavaca, Blanco, San Marcos, lower Guadalupe, Medina, lower Nueces, and Atascosa Rivers, and below (10%-24%) normal on the San Gabriel, Colorado, upper Guadalupe, San Antonio, and Frio Rivers. Most water providers encouraged conservation while San Antonio and Universal City imposed stage 3 restrictions and New Braunfels and Austin had stage 2. Of the counties in D2 or worse drought, Atascosa, Bastrop, Blanco, Bexar, Caldwell, Comal, De Witt, Dimmit, Fayette, Frio, Guadalupe, Hays, Karnes, Medina, Wilson, and Zavala had outdoor burn bans in effect at the end of the month.

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 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, January 2026

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: 1313531.