Is El Niño delivering on its promise?

Dalhart Weather Review

(May 5 - May 18)

by Aaron Graves

2015 is the wettest start to any year since the drought began.

Forecasters were calling for a wet spring thanks to an El Niño weather pattern, and so far so good! Dalhart has recorded 1.16" of rain for May as of Tuesday afternoon, May 20. We are trailing our monthly normal by a mere tenth of an inch.

We have enjoyed seven days this month with measurable rainfall. The biggest day by far was Tuesday's gully washer, which dropped 0.37" in just a few minutes. Our annual precipitation total is 5.85" as of May 19, a good 1.41" above normal. By way of comparison, at this time last year we had only received 0.45". 


In fact, as can be seen on the above graph provided by the National Weather Service in Amarillo, this is the wettest start to any year since the drought began.

The rainy weather has kept keep temperatures moderate, with daytime highs in the 60's and 70's the past two weeks. Our hottest day was May 15 with a high of 80 degrees. Overnight lows have fallen as cool as 38 degrees on May 11 and May 12.

The rain has been beneficial for area ag interests according to Kerry Todd. "While it has corn planting a little behind normal, it has saved irrigation expense and water by not having to water wheat and alfalfa as much," Todd said.

The above mentioned stats are from the Amarillo office of the National Weather Service as recorded at the Dalhart airport. Let's take a stroll around Dallam and Hartley county using rain totals from farmland pivots posted at Texaspivot.com.

Farmland around Texline has seen between 3" and 3.5" over the past week (May 13 to May 19). Along U.S. Hwy. 385 north of Dalhart totals are between 1.5" and 2", with totals approaching 2.5" in the grasslands. Rain totals along North Sedan Road (Hwy 102) range from 2.5" to 3.5". Along U.S. Hwy. 54 towards Stratford rain totals range between 1.75" and 2".

Pivots south of Dalhart recorded 1.5" to 2" the past week with similar totals along the Etter Highway. Rain totals start at 1.5" west of Hartley to top 3" east of town. Along U.S. Hwy. 54 heading towards New Mexico, rain totals are general between 1.25" and 1.5".

 

Drought conditions a month ago.

Current drought conditions

Widespread rainfall across the Texas panhandle has brought significant drought relief, according to the latest map from the U.S. Drought Monitor. At this time last month, 18 panhandle counties - in whole or in part - were experiencing "extreme" drought conditions. Most of those counties have been downgraded to "abnormally dry", with some areas only considered "abnormally dry".
 
This includes Dallam and Hartley counties were, just this week, we were downgraded to "moderate" drought in the eastern parts of both counties and "severe" in the western parts. Hopefully more relief will come as rain continues in the forecast through his weekend.


Forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center are giving this El Niño weather pattern a 90% chance of sticking around through summer, and an 80% chance of lasting through the end of 2015. The warmer than normal waters in Pacific Ocean tend to bring more rain to the Texas panhandle.

"By early May 2015, weak to moderate El Niño conditions were reflected by above-average sea surface temperatures across the equatorial Pacific," reads the latest report on El Niño from the CPC, issued May 14. 

Hi and low temps the past two weeks

May 5: 69, 51
May 6: 79, 49
May 7: 79, 45
May 8: 72, 52
May 9: 76, 44
May 10: 64, 39
May 11: 65, 38

May 12: 71, 38
May 13: 64, 49
May 14: 79, 46
May 15: 80, 53
May 16: 72, 51
May 17: 75, 43
May 18: 71, 49