Dalhart Weather Review
by Aaron Graves
Last weekend's rain was refreshing to say the least. Grass greened up around town. Flowers bloomed. Mud was happily tracked across front door foyers and kitchen floors everywhere. Unfortunately, the inch or so of rain Dalhart saw did little to alleviate the ongoing drought locally. However, more rain is in the forecast. We have a chance of thunderstorms every day through Sunday.
Overnight rain showers on May 30 and 31 gave Dalhart another 0.17" of precipitation, as recorded at the airport. Thus, May 2014 ended with 1.55" of rain, which bumped our year-to-date total to 1.84" of precipitation. We had an average high of 82 degrees and an average low of 48.2 degrees.
Summer heat is setting in as our daily high has been in the 80's or 90's since May 27. Temperatures will continue in the 90's through the weekend.
The Amarillo Office of the National Weather Service held a press conference May 22 outlining the latest sobering statics for what is being considered the worst drought ever. Krissy Scotten, Warning Coordination Meteorologist, and Nicholas Fenner, Climate Program Manager, gave a short presentation that can be watched on their YouTube channel.
Scotten declared the last 43 months the driest ever since record keeping began. That would make this drought worse than the drought of the 1950's, and worse than the infamous Dust Bowl ear of the 1930's. As of May 22, Dalhart was behind 38" of precipitation since the onset of the drought in October 2010.
The U.S. Drought monitor for the week of May 20 showed the entire Texas panhandle was experiencing "exceptional drought" conditions. Scotten said the chances of experiencing a drought like this is once every 50 years.
Fenner discussed the impacts of the drought. For the fourth year in a row, the dryland winter wheat crop has failed. Farmers that use irrigation are basically having to run their sprinklers constantly. Native grass has thinned or disappeared completely in some areas. Cattle inventory is down 50% as producers have either sold the cattle or shipped them off to greener pastures in other states.
What will it take to end the drought? Fenner said we need to see the equivalent of one to two years annual precipitation over the next six months to do away with it. Forecasters are still calling for an El Nino to develop, which could bring some relief this winter.
Last week's rain did have some beneficial effects. While Dalhart saw an inch or so of rain, some areas received 4 to 5 inches. This includes the Lake Meredith watershed. Lake Meredith rose almost two feet. In addition, the latest U.S. Drought monitor (May 27) showed parts of the Panhandle being downgraded from "exceptional drought" to "extreme drought". This includes the western part of Hartley County.
May 26: 75, 55
May 27: 83, 54
May 28: 87, 57
May 29: 88, 57
May 30: 88, 64
May 31: 90, 59
Jun 1: 96, 85
Jun 2: 86, 64
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