Thanks to Wet Spring, Dalhart Taking Record Hot Summer in Stride

July 17 Downpour along Hwy 54 SW of Dalhart. Rain totals ranged from
about 1" south of Dalhart to 2" or more in town.

Dalhart recovered from a dry winter to enjoy a rather wet spring and now, a rather hot summer. In the next series of blog posts, we'll look at what has happened since March 2016, for there have been a couple of noteworthy events. First, though, let's check the current conditions.

Dalhart is 1.27" above normal precipitation as of July 18. This total is recorded by the National Weather Service in Amarillo at the airport. We have seen 10.57" of precipitation since January 1. Last year's drought-busting rain had us at 9.93" by this time, so we are doing very good for 2016. Not only that, we are taking a record-breaking heatwave in stride.

Heatwaves usually come with high pressure, and high pressure usually means no rain. Sure enough, it has only rained over Dalhart twice this month. We recently received 1.05" from an intense storm on July 17. (Again, this is recorded at the airport. It rained so much in town ~ possibly 2" or more ~ that the Hwy. 87 underpass flooded and was closed for a while). Previously, Dalhart recorded 0.29" on July 3.

Lightning and a rain-soaked sunset from the July 17 downpour.

Meanwhile, the daily high temperature has topped 100
degrees 10 out of the first 18 days this month. Three of those days the mercury reached 107 degrees. Five high temperature records have fallen this month, and three more days tied previous records. This includes a 105 degree high on July 17, reached shortly before the downpour began. That beat the previous high of 101 degrees from 1978. All three of the 107 degree days beat previous records.

Despite this, the latest U.S. Drought Monitor map (dated July 12) shows the Texas panhandle in good shape. There is a small area of abnormally dry conditions SW of Amarillo. But all other areas, including Dallam and Hartley counties, are considered drought free.

What does the future hold? The Climate Prediction Center is giving our area a 33% chance of above average temperatures through the end of September. As for rainfall, the CPC is calling for equal chances of above, below or normal rainfall, which should help keep us drought free! This information was released back on June 16.

Next blog post, we take a look back at April 2016 - as a costly hail storm ushered in a wet spring.

July High Temperature Records Broken

July 17 105 - beat 101 from 1978
July 11 107 - beat 103 from 1954
July 10 107 - beat 103 from 2009
July 7 107 - beat 103 from 1957
July 5 104 - beat 102 from 1966

July High Temperature Records Tied

July 16 102 - tied 102 from 2011
July 13 102 - tied 102 from 2010
July 6 105 - tied 105 from 1973