Volume 20 Number 2 FEBRUARY 2007

February 2007 was a very dry month for the entire state. El Nino conditions of the previous months brought some much needed rain to the drought affected areas of the state. However, as the El Nino weakened, conditions across the state this month were very dry. No station in the state received above average precipitation. In fact, Brownsville reported the highest percent of normal with only 76%. Moreover, Brownsville was the only station in the state that reported above 58% of their normal precipitation total. Six stations reported precipitation totals of less than 10% of normal. As a result, this was the driest February ever reported in Galveston; only 0.03” of rainfall was reported for the entire month, 1% of normal. In College Station and San Antonio, this February was the 2^nd driest and 4^th driest, respectively, of all time. In the panhandle area, all of the stations reported at least 50% of their normal totals, the most throughout the entire state, but still only slightly larger than half of their normal values. The south and southeast received the least of amount of their normal total precipitation with values ranging from 1% in Galveston and 4% in Corpus Christi to 39% in Houston. Central Texas did not fair much better with the values in the area ranging from 7% in Austin and 5% in San Antonio to 23% in Waco. February 2007 could be one of the driest Februarys ever reported (data to be available later this month).

While precipitation for the state was far below average, mean temperatures were within a degree of average in most place. The coldest places were Amarillo, Houston and Galveston which were all 1.5°F below average. The southeast areas of the station were all below average, while the southern areas were all slightly above average. The warmest place in the state was Brownsville, where the mean temperature was 1.2°F above average. A strong cold front moved across the state on Feb. 15. The air behind the front was cold and dry and allowed temperatures to drop to record lows. Six stations, all in central or southeast Texas, reported record low temperature between Feb. 16^th – 18^th. Waco reported a record low of 16°F on the 16^th. Houston, and Port Arthur reported record lows on the 16^th with values of 26°F and 25°, respectively. College Station reported a record low on the 17^th with a low temperature of 21°F. As the month moved on temperature warm up considerably, even setting record highs in the few locations near the end of the month. Corpus Christi set a record high on the 24^th with a high temperature of 90°F. That was also the highest temperature reported during the month for the entire state. San Angelo also set a record high with a high temperature of 85°F on the 28^th.

As for severe weather, February is usually a quiet month, and February 2007 was no exception. There were only three days with storm reports. However, three tornadoes were reported on the 23^rd. For the entire month, there were 3 tornado reports, 6 hail reports, and 5 severe wind reports.

February 2007

* Based on 1971-2000 normals

* Complete temperature data were unavailable. Temperatures are rounded to the nearest whole degree.

* HDD - Heating degree-day: Refer to the Monthly Average chart for a definition T = Trace (<0.005")

* CDD - Cooling degree-day: Refer to the Monthly Average chart for a definition M: Information not available.

CLIMATIC AVERAGES FOR MARCH

Records are at the current site, other records may have occurred at previous sites.

*CDD - Cooling degree-day: The difference between the mean individual daily temperature and 65°F, with one

CDD resulting for each degree above the standard 65°F during one day.

*HDD - Heating degree-day: The difference between the mean individual daily temperature and 65°F, with one

HDD resulting for each degree below the standard 65°F during one day.

Agricultural Weather Highlights

http://agnews.tamu.edu/dailynews/index.html

Past Weather Events in March

March 23, 1909: Tornado. Slidell, Wise County; 11 killed, 10 injured; damage $30,000.

March 30, 1933: Tornado. Angelina, Nacogdoches and San Augustine Counties; 10 killed, 56 injured; damage $200,000.

March 13, 1953: Tornado. Jud and O'Brien, Haskell County; and Knox City, Knox County; 17 killed, 25 injured; damage $600,000.

March-May, 1998: According to the Climate Prediction Center, this three-month period ranks as the seventh driest for a region including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. May 1998 has been ranked as both the warmest and the driest May that this region has ever seen.

March 28, 2000: A supercell over Fort Worth produced an F3 tornado which injured 80 people and caused significant damage. Flooding claimed the lives of two people.

Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon (State Climatologist)

Matt Mosier (Undergraduate Assistant)