Please Take Care of Our Natural Resource - Lake Rita Blanca

Dalhart Weather Review

by Aaron Graves

Snow on the walking trail at Lake Rita Blanca.

The approaching fog took on a yellowish glow, as did everything nearby due to the rising sun. I watched as it began to swallow up familiar sights on the horizon. The red and white water tower near the airport. The grain elevator - Dalhart's lone skyscraper. The tops of houses. Finally, the opposite shore of Lake Rita Blanca began to fade away.

I was sitting in my car, parked along side the burnt out remains of a picnic table. The fog approached from the west. The sounds of Canadian and snow geese, along with mallard ducks and wigeons, were the only things to be heard. It was a thin blanket of fog. As it finally overtook me, more and more of the lake surface disappeared, but I could look straight up and see the sky. 

Snow geese landing at Rita Blanca Lake.

Suddenly, there came the sound of hundreds of flapping wings and "honks" as the geese decided to depart. Usually, the sight is impressive, a massive sheet of white and brown lifting from the water. However, the fog shrouded them from view. Somewhere, nearby, they circled upward and away. 

Dalhart, somewhat isolated in a semi-arid corner of the Texas panhandle, is blessed to have a lake so close. Along the walking trails, evidence of the nearby town all but disappears, leaving one to contemplate whatever one wishes. The dam area provides and unobstructed view of sunrise and sunset, moon and stars, and approaching thunderstorms. It is pleasing to the eye, and soothing to the proverbial soul.

Please take care of our lake. Take the time to dispose of trash properly. Above all, teach your children to value the lake as well, be they five or fifteen. All too often the view is marred by discarded energy drink cans and fast food bags. And the burnt picnic table, along with some disturbing graffiti and broken trash cans along the dam area, speak of vandalism and disrespect. 

I also humbly ask the city of Dalhart to continue to maintain the entire lake area, not just the softball fields and where the XIT Reunion is held, and be quick to fix what is broken. It encourages us citizens to care.

An overnight thunderstorm and light rain showers on Sunday, Dec. 17 brought 0.17" of rain to Dalhart. That puts our yearly precipitation total to 11.52". Temperatures since Dec. 1 have generally been near 60 degrees with overnight lows around 30. 

It looks like a period of rain or snow that was expected this weekend is not going to take place. However, as always, keep an eye on the forecast. Daytime temperatures should be in the upper 40’s to low 50’s, with overnight lows dropping into the mid 20’s.

High and low temps the past two weeks

Dec 2: 60, 19

Dec 3: 47, 28

Dec 4: 49, 28

Dec 5: 64, 36

Dec 6: 56, 30

Dec 7: 66, 32

Dec 8: 64, 30

Dec 9: 60, 31

Dec 10: 60, 32

Dec 11: 62, 23

Dec 12: 64, 25

Dec 13: 70, 33

Dec 14: 53, 36

Dec 15: 52, 30

Drought relief expectations begin to sink

Dalhart Weather Review
by Aaron Graves

It's that time of month again to check on the progress of the drought. While we are still expected to see above average precipitation over the winter months, long range predictions for drought relief are a bit more muted now compared to the last couple of months. 

The upper portion of the Texas panhandle is forecast a 33% chance of seeing above average precipitation and below average temperatures through the end of February 2015, according to the Climate Prediction Center's latest seasonal outlook. However, the CPC is calling for the drought to persist or intensify through the same time period. 

Likewise, forecasters at the CPC have dropped expectations of an El Niño weather pattern developing over the winter months to 58%. If it emerges this year, it is likely to be weak. El Niño traditionally brings more rain and snow to the panhandle. 

November 2014, which brought Dalhart 1.5" of snow and a record low of 5 degrees, wrapped up with two incredibly beautiful, warm days which broke high temperature records. On Friday, Nov. 28, the high of 82 degrees beat the old record of 80 set way back in 1949. The following day, Nov. 29, the high of 81 beat the old record of 74 set back in 1970. 

The last day of the month saw a high of 73. Overall, November had an average high of 59.1 degrees and an average low of 26.3 degrees. This made the month a degree cooler than normal. 

December 1 was the official start of "meteorological winter". "Astronomical winter" occurs with the solstice on Sunday, Dec. 21, but colder weather patterns usually precede the change in season by several weeks. Dec. 1 did not disappoint, with a high of only 34 degrees. 

There was no rain or snow the past week. November ended with 0.15" of total precipitation, which included 0.08" from the 1.5" of snow back on the 16th. (This is an updated total since last week's article). We fell 0.43" below normal for the month. Since the first of the year, we have had 11.35" of precipitation, the wettest year since the drought began. 

Not much has changed on the latest U.S. Drought Monitor (issued Nov. 25). Most of Dallam County is considered in "severe drought" while Hartley County is split between "moderate drought" in the west and "severe drought" in the east. There is still a swath of "extreme drought" that extends from Dalhart southeast towards Dumas and beyond. 

It is lightly raining as I post this on Thursday, Dec. 4. After today, no rain is in the forecast through Sunday. We will warm back into the mid 50’s to lower 60’s through the weekend. Overnight lows will generally fall into the upper 20’s. 

High and low temps the past week

Nov 25: 53, 22
Nov 26: 50, 27
Nov 27: 62, 20
Nov 28: 82, 30
Nov 29: 81, 29
Nov 30: 73, 21
Dec 1: 34, 15