Volume 15 Number 7                                                                     JULY 2002

The month of July will long be remembered for the torrential rains and flooding, which abruptly ended the extreme drought across much of the south, east and central portions of Texas. The rainfall total from July 1 -July 9 at the San Antonio International Airport was 16.92 inches, with many areas reporting in excess of 20 inches. Numerous locations in Texas, especially around San Antonio and New Braunfels, continue to purge the area of damage due to unfortunate flooding conditions. The governor estimates damage totals to be near 2 billion dollars.

Temperatures in many regions of Texas were below normal in the beginning and middle of the month as a result of prolonged days of showers and thunderstorms. These periods of cool, and wet weather resulted from two low-pressure systems that moved across the state. The city of San Antonio was constantly under attack by numerous waves of precipitation. Also, many other areas in Texas received ample rainfall that greatly exceeded the average rainfall for the month.

Cities that exceeded their average normal monthly totals are as listed: Abilene- 8.04", Austin-5.32", College Station-5.66", Corpus Christi-3.51", Dallas/Fort Worth-3.07", Galveston-3.73", Houston-7.10", San Angelo-2.02", San Antonio-16.92", Victoria-5.48", Waco-2.39", and Wichita Falls-2.92". Texas assumed a pattern of predominately dry and very warm weather toward the end of the month, with record temperatures reported statewide, including Wink at 108 ° F on July 27^th.

Information was obtained from the National Climatic Data Center and the National Weather Service

Kelsey Curtiss, and Brent Maddux (Undergraduate Assistants)
 
 

http://agnews.tamu.edu/dailynews/stories/CROP/
 
 
 
 
 
 

Past Weather Events in August

August 6, 1844: Hurricane. Mouth of Rio Grande. All housing destroyed at the mouth of the river and at Brazos Santiago, eight miles north; 70 lives lost.

August 19-21, 1886: Hurricane. Indianola. Every house destroyed or damaged. Indianola never rebuilt.

August 16-19, 1915: Hurricane. Galveston. Peak wind gusts of 120 miles recorded at Galveston; tide ranged 9.5 to 14.3 feet above mean sea level in the city, and up to 16.1 feet near the causeway. Business section flooded with 5 to 6 feet of water. At least 275 lives lost, damage $56 million. A new seawall prevented a repetition of the 1900 disaster.

August 13, 1932: Hurricane. Near Freeport, Brazoria County. Wind speed at East Columbia estimated at 100 miles per hour; 40 lives lost, 200 injured; damage $7,500,000.

August 1-4, 1978: Heavy rains, flooding. Edwards Plateau, Low Rolling Plains. Remnants of Tropical Storm Amelia caused some of the worst flooding of this century. As much as 30 inches of rain fell near Albany in Shackelford County, where six drownings were reported. Bandera, Kerr, Kendall and Gillespie counties were hit hard, as 27 people drowned and the damage total was at least $50 million.

August 9-11, 1980: Hurricane Allen hit South Texas and left three dead, causing $650-$750 million in property and crop damages. Over 250,000 coastal residents had to be evacuated. The worst damage occurred along Padre Island and in Corpus Christi. Over 20 inches of rain fell in extreme South Texas, and 29 tornadoes occurred; one of the worst hurricane-related outbreaks.

August 15-21, 1983: Hurricane Alicia was the first hurricane to make landfall in the continental U.S. in three years, and one of the costliest in Texas history ($3 billion). Alicia caused widespread damage to a large section of Southeast Texas, including coastal areas near Galveston and the entire Houston area. Alicia spawned 22 tornadoes, and the highest winds were estimated near 130 mph. In all, 18 people in South Texas were killed and 1,800 injured as a result of the tropical storm.
 

Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon (State Climatologist)

Kelsey Curtiss, and Brent Maddux (Undergraduate Assistants)