Volume 19 Number 1 JANUARY 2006
This January started off very warm and dry. Records were
tied or broken at many first order stations during the first week of the month
as temperatures soared into the 80s.On January 1st 10 stations, including Abilene, Houston,
Corpus Christi, and Waco, recorded record high temperatures. Waco recorded a temperature of 86°, 5° above the previous record high of 79°. Austin had six records tied or broken during the month. Galveston recorded its highest January temperature ever on the
2nd, with a high of 78°. Overall,
the entire state was above average. All
the first-order stations reported mean temperatures at least 4° above normal.
Numerous stations around the state had mean temperatures in the top ten of all
Januaries. Austin and College Station had their 7th warmest Januaries ever. Houston had its 10th warmest. Five stations had mean temperatures within
the top five Januaries of all time. DFW
and Wichita Falls had their 2nd warmest Januaries ever, and Abilene and Midland had their 4th. Waco recorded its 5th warmest January on
record. The heat was widespread, and
acted to enhance the drought conditions already faced by the state.
In terms of precipitation, the North Central areas of the
state reported total precipitation that was above average (DFW, and Waco) while the rest of the state suffered from below
average precipitation. West Texas received very little precipitation with the stations reported
precipitation total at least 60% below average.
Lubbock received only a trace for the entire month. However, North Central Texas got some much
needed rain. DFW and Waco set daily record rainfall totals on the 29th with 1.59”
and 1.63”, respectively. College Station and Houston set record daily rainfall totals on the 23rd
with totals of 1.66” and 1.02”, respectively.
Despite these rainfall events, the drought continues to effect the entire state with Central Texas listing in extreme drought conditions (http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html).
The Climate Prediction Center’s outlook for February does not look promising with
precipitation predicted to be below normal. Any precipitation would be helpful
at this point.
JANUARY 2006
* Based on the 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.
From the Climate Prediction Center
www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov
CLIMATIC AVERAGES FOR FEBRUARY
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
AgNews
- Texas A&M University Agriculture Program > News and Public Affairs
Past Weather Events in February
February 20-22, 1971:
Blizzard. Panhandle. Paralyzing blizzard, worst since March 22-25, 1957. Storm transformed Panhandle into one vast
snowfield as six to 26 inches of snow were whipped by 40 to 60 miles per hour
winds into drifts up to 12 feet high. At
Follet, three-day snowfall was 26 inches.
Three persons killed; property and livestock losses were $3.1 million.
February 21, 1996: Anomalously
high temperatures were reported over the entire state, breaking records in
nearly every region of the state.
Temperatures near 100ºF shattered previous records by as many as 10ºF as
Texans experienced heat more characteristic of mid-summer than winter.
Dr.
John Nielsen-Gammon (State Climatologist)
Matt
Mosier (Undergraduate Assistant)
