Dalhart Weather Review
by Aaron Graves
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| A cloudburst near Dumas, TX - an example of the type of storm we've seen over the last month. |
Who knows how long it will last, but all traces of drought have FINALLY been washed away in the Texas Panhandle! The drought, which began in September 2010, made its last stand right here in Dallam and Hartley counties. The U.S. Drought Montior map has had us ranked "abonormally dry" since July 14, 2015. The latest map, dated August 4, shows no drought conditions whatsoever.
According to the National Weather Service, Dalhart had recorded 13" of precipitation (at the airport) since the beginning of the year, which is a good 1.29" above average. July was a big help, with 4.15" of rain for the month. We picked up an additional 1.29" of rain since August 1.
Thunderheads and nighttime lightning displays have been common since mid July, with rainy periods lasting several days. The NWS recorded rainfall at the Dalhart airport almost daily between July 15 and July 22, July 28 and Aug 4, and again since Aug 8. In fact, it rained somewhere in Dallam and/or Hartley county every day between July 13 and August 3 according to the daily rain map provided by the NWS.
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| Drought conditions no longer exist in the Texas Panhandle, although dry conditions are returning to the eastern part of the state. |
Some of these storms have been prolific rain producers. I sat alongside a cornfield on South Sedan Road amazed at how such a small storm could dump so much water. In town, the final rodeo performance of the XIT Rodeo and Reunion was underway. It was nice and dry there. Where I was, rain was being blown sideways as it blotted out the setting sun. That storm missed the airport, with only a trace of rain recorded there. Pivot rain gauges on Texaspivot.com and a CoCoRaHS observer show about a half inch of rain fell where I was parked.
A similar downpour reduced visibilites on Hwy. 54 about a mile east of Dalhart on Aug 3. That storm took a glancing blow at the city and was followed by another after dark. Dalhart picked up 1.17" at the airport for both storms. Texaspivot.com shows 2" of rain fell along Hwy. 54 where I had been parked. Another big rain day was July 31, with 1.30" of rain recorded at the airport.
The CoCoRaHS observer in Texline has recorded 6.81" of rain since July 15, with 13 days of rainfall ranging from 0.03" on July 15 to 2.17" on August 10. The CoCoRaHS observer along South Sedan Road has recorded 3.88" of rain since July 15, with 11 days of rain ranging from 0.06" on July 19 to 0.81" on August 3.
Rain totals on Texaspivot.com are equally impressive over the past month: near Perico almost 6.5", east of Texline 5.75", far northern Dallam County in the grasslands about 9.25", near Conlen 4.25", almost 6" just east of Hartley, north of Channing 6.5", near Romero and Middlewater about 4". Pivots close to Dalhart recorded about 5" near the cheese plant and 3.5" just south of town.
And it's not just raining here. "Amarillo, which has been keeping weather records since 1892, received 25.03 inches from January 1st through July 31st this year. This is the wettest January through July period on record, exceeding the old record of 23.83 inches of precipitation set in 1960," reads a press release from the Amarillo NWS dated August 6th. Other towns also experiencing their wettest year ever include Borger, Hereford, Pampa, Panhandle, Perryton and Shamrock. Amarillo playa lakes are overflowing, and flood events have been reported across the Texas Panhandle.
The press release continues: "Since the beginning of May, Lake Meredith has increased in depth by over 14 feet and gained nearly 70,000 acre-feet of stored water as a result of widespread heavy rainfall." As of August 11, Lake Meredith was at a depth of 59.90', more than half of it's record height of 101.85' in April 1973. It was back in August of 2013 when it hit its all time record low of 26.14 feet.
Why all the rain? The press release explains: "Much of this wetter-than-normal weather can be attributed to the influence of an ongoing El Niño event across the tropical Pacific Ocean, which began in late 2014 and continues to strengthen this summer. El Niño events typically increase the chances for above normal precipitation across the Panhandles, especially during winter and spring months. With the current El Niño likely to last into early 2016 and peak as a strong event later this year, the potential for flooding and flash flooding will continue to be higher than normal through the rest of this summer."
Being summer and all, daily high temperatures have generally been in the upper 90's.We have had eight days below 90 degrees since July 12, and eight days at 100 or above. The high of 103 on August 6, the first day of the XIT Rodeo and Reunion, set a new record, beating out the high of 101 set in 2013. July 2015 ended with an average high of 93.7 degrees and an average low of 65.9 degrees. We have averaged a high of 93.2 degrees the first 10 days of August.
High and low temps and rainfall over the last month.
Jul 12: 100, 66
Jul 13: 100, 67
Jul 14: 97, 67
Jul 15: 97, 67, trace
Jul 16: 93, 67, trace
Jul 17: 99, 65, trace
Jul 18: 100, 66, 0.06"
Jul 19: 96, 68, trace
Jul 20: 91, 68, 0.19"
Jul 21: 85, 66, 0.02"
Jul 22: 92, 69, trace
Jul 23: 98, 67
Jul 24: 100, 67
Jul 25: 101, 70
Jul 26: 101, 69
Jul 27: 101, 69
Jul 28: 94, 65, 0.15"
Jul 29: 86, 67, trace
Jul 30: 85, 68, 0.12"
Jul 31: 84, 66, 1.30"
Aug 1: 88, 67, trace
Aug 2: 93, 69
Aug 3: 88, 67, 0.34"
Aug 4: 91, 62, 0.83"
Aug 5: 90, 68
Aug 6: 103, 68
Aug 7: 99, 65
Aug 8: 96, 65, trace
Aug 9: 97, 66, trace
Aug 10: 87, 66, 0.04"
