Volume 12 Number 10                                                                                                                                            OCTOBER 1999

Precipitation continued to be below normal for most of Texas in October. Only the extreme north central and northeast parts of the state received rainfall above their 30-year normal. The lowest percentages of normal rainfall were measured in Houston (13%), Midland (16%), and Del Rio (17%). Temperatures, however, were lower relative to normal for much of Texas, which lessens the effects of the ongoing drought. Thirteen of the nineteen stations recorded below-normal temperatures, mostly in the western part of the state. The greatest negative departures were Austin (-3.4ºF), Corpus Christi (1.8ºF), and Brownsville (1.3ºF). Dallas-Fort Worth experienced the greatest positive departure, 2.0ºF above normal.

At the end of the first week of October, a low pressure system formed over the central Rockies. As this cyclone developed and moved southeastward, its associated cold front swept across Texas from the 7^th through the 10^th, bringing significant rainfall to many locations. The greatest rainfall occurred on the 8^th in the eastern half of the state. Beaumont-Port Arthur and Texarkana both received about 2.71 inches, and Longview had 1.89 inches of rainfall.

Another much larger system moved out of Canada into the Great Lakes, draping a cold front across the southern half of the country from the 15^th through the 19^th. Arctic air behind the front resulted in eleven record or tied record low daily maximum temperatures on the 18^th and 19^th and two record low minimum temperatures on the 18^th. Significant rainfall associated with the front was mostly concentrated in South and Southeast Texas. Galveston received 1.45 inches on the 17^th, and Corpus Christi received 1.34 inches on the 18^th.

Unusually cool nighttime temperatures in South Texas resulted in an interesting record being tied; Brownsville recorded ten consecutive days with daily minima in the 50's or below from the 18^th to the 27^th, only the second time this has happened in an October in their recorded history.

Near the month's end, a front extending from another Great Lakes low pressure system moved across Texas from the 29^th through the 31^st, bringing rain and cool temperatures to the state. The greatest precipitation amounts were measured on the 30^th in Waco (1.64"), Tyler (1.36"), and Abilene (1.12").
 
 

Rick Scott (Graduate Assistant)

* 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.
 
 

Texas pumpkin growers found themselves in a favorable situation in October as pumpkins in the Northeast states were flood damaged by Hurricane Floyd, and droughts were decreasing yields in other parts of the country. This was according to Dr. Frank Dianello, Extension horticulturalist, who also added that growers were in a moderate price situation but with slightly lower yields.

By the middle of the month, North Texas District Extension director Randy Upshaw stated, "Everything is suffering from the stress of the drought." Water availability for livestock was a concern, and the potato harvest was also being affected. The impact of the freeze on the 17^th was a concern for the cotton producers in the Panhandle and North Texas. District Extension director Jett Major said, "Growth of late-planted cotton was permanently halted by the freeze." Cotton harvest in other parts of Texas was progressing well according to Extension economist Carl Anderson. He said cotton quality was good, although fiber length has been slightly shorter than usual.

The state's wheat producers were mostly finished planting and were hoping for rainfall. Extension agronomist Billy Warrick of San Angelo said a strong wheat crop not only good for the grain harvest but for forage as well. District Extension director Dr. Bob Robinson said planting was 95% complete (as of the 26^th) in the Panhandle. He pointed out that many areas, including the eastern region of the Panhandle, were desperate for rain. According to district Extension director Tony Douglas of Overton, wheat planting in East Texas was complete and pecan harvest was underway.

At month's end, Texas sorghum producers were busy harvesting 26% more acreage than 1998, reports the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Cotton lost to hail and heavy rain in June of this year was replaced by the quick maturing sorghum. District Extension director Dr. Bob Robinson in Amarillo said the sorghum harvest was nearly finished in the Panhandle with average (dryland) to exceptionally good (irrigated fields).
 
 

Rick Scott

Office of the State Climatologist
 
 

*from the TAMU Extension Crop, Livestock and Weather reports
 
 

Monthly Weather Outlook for December*

Areas in Texas south and west of a line extending from southeast New Mexico to the middle of the Texas Gulf Coast have a 53-63% probability of above-normal temperatures. The rest of the state has a 43-53% probability of above-normal temperatures.

The northern and northeastern part of Texas should have precipitation near their climatological normal, while the rest of the state has a 33-43% probability of below-normal precipitation.

* from the Climate Prediction Center, NOAA
 
 

Past Weather Events in November*

Nov. 23-24, 1974: Flash Flooding. Central Texas. Over $1 million in property damage. Thirteen people killed, ten in Travis county.

*from the Texas Almanac
 
 
 
 

Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon (State Climatologist)

Rick Scott (Graduate Assistant)

Darcy Dittman (Undergraduate Assistant)

Kerry Meyer (Undergraduate Assistant)