2012’s rainfall outpacing average
Rain
nothing. But thanks to storms the first half of the year, 2012’s precipitation is still outpacing the average rainfall.
The drought, which just months ago was seemingly broken by all those rains, is slowly reasserting itself in Central Texas.
The reasons for the dry weather can be found thousands of miles away, in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Water temperatures — especially a cooling of water in the Pacific — jet streams and changes in pressure systems mean that, for now, Texas finds a dry, warm dome of air hovering overhead, according to Cory Van Pelt, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Travis and Hays counties are in now moderate drought — still not nearly as bad as the worst-case exceptional drought cat- egory it was in 2011 — and Williamson County has now landed in the severe category, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center.
“Even though it hasn’t rained in a while, farmers are still coming off good crop production this year,” said Jared Ripple, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension agent in Williamson County who works with farmers there to improve their row crops. “While it could turn out to be 2011 all over again, spirits are still high because they were able to produce a good crop.”
Lakes Travis and Buchanan, the chief reservoirs of Central Texas, are now 42 percent full and falling. Officials with the Lower Colorado River Authority say virtually no water has flowed into the Highland Lakes in November.
Long-term weather forecasts offer no hope for relief: The U.S. Climate Prediction Center predicts that Texas’ next three months will see above normal temperatures and below normal rainfall.
The forecast for this weekend has a 20 percent chance of rain, at best, with a mix of sun and clouds, said Pat McDonald, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Highs for the first weekend in December are expected to be near a tropical 80 degrees.