Volume 17  Number 7                                                                                                                                       JULY 2004

 

          Texas was split during the month of July as the Gulf coast experienced warm, dry weather, and the remainder of the state was wet and colder than normal.  During the first week, a series of frontal systems brought some rain to the Panhandle and northern border of the state.  Hail as large as 3” was reported in Cottle County on the 1st, and Wichita Falls received 1.96” of precipitation on the 6th.  A high pressure system settled over the state during the second week and temperatures soared across the state.  Abilene, Dallas, Del Rio, El Paso, Lubbock, Midland, San Angelo, and Wichita Falls all topped 100°F during the first half of July.  The stretch of summer weather continued until the end of the third week when a shortwave trough moved across the northern part of the state.  Temperatures dropped as a cold front slowly moved eastward – highs on the 24th and 25th only reached the 60s and 70s for many stations in west Texas including:  Abilene (70°), Amarillo (65°), Lubbock (64°), and Wichita Falls (73°).  During this same time, Amarillo, College Station, and Midland received at least 1.00” of precipitation.  A stationary front over North Central Texas produced heavy rains in many counties.  Dallas (4.14”) and Waco (4.94”) nearly doubled their normal monthly precipitation on the 28th-29th, while Wichita Falls added another 1.96” and Lubbock received 2.05”.

          For the month, all but four first-order stations had below-normal temperatures with the coldest averages in the north and central portions of the state.  South, East, and South Central Texas all experienced a very dry month with the exception of Victoria.  Houston (25%), Galveston (25%), Brownsville (22%), and Shreveport (18%) received less than a quarter of their normal July rainfall.  Out west, El Paso saw it’s fifth consecutive month with above-normal precipitation.  Also, the heavy rains at the end of the month helped College Station, Dallas, Lubbock, and Waco record above-normal precipitation for the month.

 

 

JULY 2004


* 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 AUGUST

 

 

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.

All times given for sunrise, sunset, and moon phase times are calculated for the intersection of

Meridian 99°10' W and parallel 31°23' N, which is the approximate geographic center of the state.

 

 

 

 

Climate-related Agricultural Information

 

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)

Michael Hammer (Undergraduate Assistant)