As summer begins to tighten its grip across Texas and Oklahoma many folks are praying for some relief in the midst of a widespread drought. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor’s latest report, a large portion of areas experiencing the most extreme category of drought (exceptional) have been downgraded a level. See the current June 3 map below:
Great news has recently come to our proud and resilient ranchers of the Panhandle region. Some areas of the Panhandle have received over 6 inches of rain in the last couple weeks bringing the year-to-date totals close to normal. Although this is a long way from killing the drought, it is certainly a lifesaver for farmers and ranchers desperate for anything to fall from the sky. Even this morning Amarillo received an additional 1.3 inches. Great news! Unfortunately some areas, like the Wichita Falls area, have experienced little relief. Farther east and southeast, things are looking pretty good where lake levels are close to normal and no significant rainfall deficits exist.
For those wanting to keep tabs on current and historical data for a particular weather station check out this site:
First you will need to select your city. After you select the city, choose the weather station that is closest to your area of interest. Once you are looking at the page designated for that particular weather station you will have access to lots of historical data specific to that station. The functionality of this site is very handy for looking at rainfall over a given time interval.
*Storm photo taken by Jonathan Trantham 5 miles north of St. Jo, TX on June 6, 2014.