Volume 10 Number 7 | July 1997 |
July brought near normal temperatures and large departures in precipitation to the state of Texas. The Plains and North Central Texas had small negative departures from the normal mean temperature while the rest of the state experienced a hotter than normal month. After experiencing large amounts of precipitation throughout the spring in 1997, the rain was seemingly "shut off" as summer arrived. Except for the High Plains, much of Texas received less than half of the rainfall which is normally observed in July. The Southern Region and Lower Valley were very dry -- no rain fell in San Antonio and Brownsville while Victoria (0.03") and Corpus Christi (0.16") both received less than 10 percent of normal. Existing records for lowest monthly precipitation were broken for Brownsville, San Antonio and Victoria. The previous records at these stations were trace, trace and 0.07" respectively.
The first week of July brought welcomed relief from the wet June conditions, especially in the Hill Country. It was during the previous two weeks that they had experienced devastating floods and the clear skies gave many the opportunity to dry out. The Panhandle and Northern Texas did experience thunderstorms as a dryline extended across the region. On the 4th of July in Lubbock, there was more than fireworks in the air as an inch of rain dampened festivities. Dalhart recorded the low temperature for the month in Texas (54F) on the 4th as well.
Texas was spared from Hurricane Danny in the middle of the month as the storm slowly progressed from the Gulf of Mexico into Alabama. Mobile received 18.52" of rain during July, most of which was the result of the hurricane. Texas remained hot and dry during this period, except for the occurrences of scattered thunderstorms in the Panhandle and extreme East Texas. Laredo observed a daily maximum temperature of 106F, the highest for the the month, on the 15th.
Temperatures across the Lone Star State continued to rise during the third and fourth weeks of July as the heart of summer approached gradually. Two people died from extreme heat in Dallas during this period as the heat index reached 108F. Overall, temperatures were 1F to 2F above normal across the entire state during the latter part of the month.
Prepared by: John F. Griffiths (State Climatologist)
Brian N. Belcher (Graduate Assistant)
belcher@tamu.edu
Avg Avg Abs Abs No. of Total % of Gr'st Max Min Mean Max Min Days Pcpn Avg 24 hr Station Temp Dep Temp Dep Temp Dep Temp Temp Precip (In) Pcpn Pcpn HDD* CDD*
Abilene* 93.0 -2.2 72.0 -0.7 83.0 -1.0 98 65 2 0.28 13% 0.26 0 545 Amarillo 91.3 -0.4 64.4 -1.1 77.9 -0.7 99 55 11 5.51 210% 3.49 0 406 Austin* 94.0 -1.0 74.0 0.1 84.0 -0.5 98 71 2 0.60 29% 0.59 0 592 Brownsville* 95.0 1.7 76.0 0.3 85.0 0.5 98 73 0 0.00 0% 0.00 0 649 College Station 95.7 1.9 73.4 0.0 84.5 0.9 99 70 1 0.94 41% 0.94 0 615 Corpus Christi* 95.0 1.7 74.0 -0.8 85.0 0.9 98 67 3 0.16 7% 0.15 0 608 Dallas/Ft. Worth* 95.0 -1.5 75.0 0.9 85.0 -0.3 101 66 5 1.69 73% 0.81 0 617 Del Rio* 97.0 0.8 76.0 1.9 86.0 0.8 101 71 2 0.77 42% 0.69 0 674 El Paso* 95.0 -1.1 70.0 1.6 83.0 0.7 105 66 9 0.91 59% 0.24 0 556 Galveston* 91.0 3.7 79.0 -0.2 85.0 1.7 94 64 5 1.08 27% 0.88 0 622 Houston* 94.0 1.3 72.0 -0.4 83.0 0.4 96 69 8 1.67 46% 0.46 0 559 Lubbock 92.9 1.0 68.3 0.3 80.6 0.6 100 61 6 2.06 87% 0.98 0 484 Midland* 95.0 -0.4 70.0 1.5 83.0 1.0 99 64 5 2.26 133% 0.91 0 551 Port Arthur* 93.0 1.1 75.0 1.3 84.0 1.2 97 71 13 5.77 107% 2.73 0 594 San Angelo* 96.0 -0.2 71.0 1.9 84.0 1.3 99 65 2 0.74 70% 0.43 0 589 San Antonio* 95.0 0.0 75.0 0.0 85.0 0.0 99 71 0 0.00 0% 0.00 0 630 Victoria* 95.0 1.5 74.0 -0.6 85.0 0.9 99 71 2 0.03 1% 0.02 0 616 Waco* 96.0 -0.8 74.0 -0.4 85.0 -0.6 101 67 4 0.81 41% 0.59 0 626 Wichita Falls* 97.0 -0.2 72.0 -0.7 85.0 0.0 103 61 3 0.11 6% 0.05 0 609 Shreveport, LA 93.0 -0.3 74.0 1.5 83.0 0.1 100 69 7 1.74 49% 0.85 0 581
*Complete temperature data were unavailable. Temperatures are rounded to the nearest whole degree. X indicates data were not available at publication time. It will be updated when data are available. *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
Rec Rec Gr'st Gr'st Mean # of Days Avg Avg High Low Avg Mon 24hr Pcpn Max Min Max Min Pcpn Pcpn Pcpn Max T Min T >or= Station Temp Temp Temp Temp (In) (In) (In) >90F <32F 0.01" HDD* CDD*
Abilene 95 72 109 50 2.80 8.18 6.30 24 0 6 0 564 Amarillo 89 64 106 49 3.22 7.55 4.26 16 0 9 0 357 Austin 96 74 106 61 2.05 8.90 4.68 28 0 5 0 614 Brownsville 94 75 102 63 2.77 9.56 5.48 28 0 7 0 605 College Station 95 74 108 58 2.42 12.60 9.89 28 0 5 0 589 Corpus Christi 93 75 103 64 3.31 14.79 8.92 27 0 6 0 595 Dallas/Ft Worth 96 76 108 56 2.30 6.85 4.05 26 0 5 0 636 Del Rio 96 74 109 64 1.47 6.10 3.81 28 0 4 0 614 El Paso 94 67 108 56 1.58 5.57 2.30 24 0 8 0 468 Galveston 88 79 100 67 4.47 19.08 10.86 5 0 9 0 574 Houston 93 72 107 60 3.49 9.42 6.83 25 0 9 0 536 Lubbock 90 66 106 52 2.51 8.85 3.78 19 0 7 0 400 Midland 94 68 107 54 1.69 4.43 2.41 22 0 6 0 490 Port Arthur 92 73 107 60 5.34 17.26 8.45 24 0 12 0 546 San Angelo 95 68 109 54 1.93 8.13 3.00 26 0 5 0 524 San Antonio 95 75 108 61 2.54 11.14 5.57 28 0 5 0 617 Victoria 94 74 107 62 3.01 7.30 6.14 28 0 8 0 592 Waco 97 74 112 53 1.68 8.91 4.80 28 0 5 0 639 Wichita Falls 96 71 113 53 2.48 7.61 4.62 26 0 6 0 577 Shreveport, LA 93 72 107 54 2.52 9.23 4.64 25 0 7 0 539
Sunrise/Sunset |
SUNRISE | SUNSET |
DAYTIME LENGTH |
| 1st | 6:27 AM CDT | 8:32 PM CDT | 14hr 5min |
| 31st | 6:47 AM CDT | 8:01 PM CDT | 13hr 14min |
Moon Phases |
NEW | FIRST QTR. |
FULL | LAST QTR. |
| 3rd | 11th | 18th | 24th | 3:15 am CDT | 7:43 am CDT | 5:57 pm CDT | 9:24 pm CDT |
Records are at the current site, other records may have occurred at previous sites.
*CDD - Colling Degree-day: The difference between the mean individual daily temperature and 65F, with one
CDD resulting for each degree above the standard 65F during one day.
*HDD - Heating degree-day: The difference between the mean individual daily temperature and 65F, with one
HDD resulting for each degree below the standard 65F 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.
Monthly Weather Outlook for AUGUST 1997
The 30 day outlook for the month of August indicates a 5% excess likelihood of below normal temperatures in the Panhandle and a 5% excess likelihood of above normal temperatures in the extreme southern regions of the state. Temperatures in the West, Central and East sections of Texas are expected to be near climatic average. The models are also predicting precipitation to be near climatic average for all of Texas, except for the extreme southern portion of the state where a 5% excess likelihood of below normal precipitation exists.
Past Weather Events in August:
August 6, 1844: Seventy lives were lost as a hurricane passed across the mouth of the Rio Grande. All houses were destroyed at the mouth of the river and eight miles north of this location at Brazos Santiago.
August 1-4, 1978: Heavy rains in the Edwards Plateau and Low Rolling Plains regions produced some of the worst flooding of this century. Remnants of Tropical Storm Amelia dropped as much as 30 inches of rain near Albany in Shackelford County. Twenty-seven people drowned and the damage was estimated at $50 million.
August 24, 1979: One of the worst hailstorms in West Texas during the past century occurred, damaging crops at a cost of $200 million. The crops which were destroyed included mostly cotton.
Agricultural Weather Highlights
A very wet spring in many areas of Texas caused disease problems to increase significantly as agricultural activity entered July. The hot, drying conditions during the first week was welcomed as the summer conditions allowed for good growth and development on spring-planted crops. With the open weather, harvest and haying activities both made good progress. The irrigation activity increased for all regions except the Panhandle, where significant amounts of precipitation fell during the start of the month. Towards the end of the second week however, drier conditions forced irrigation operations to resume in the Plains. As a lack of moisture continued throughout most of Texas, many areas started to desire a good rain to enhance crop progress despite the spring surplus of precipitation. As the hot summer temperatures set in towards the middle of the month, the growth of native grasses began to slow.
Hot and dry conditions continued throughout the third week across Texas. These summer conditions are even more detrimental to crops following a wet spring because the excess rain caused plants to have shallow roots. Crops with shallow roots require more frequent precipitation and so irrigation is even more necessary during these dry spells, when the top layer of soil needs constant replenishment. There was little relief through the end of the month as the extreme summer conditions persisted during the fourth week. The growth in pastures either slowed considerably or ceased totally toward the end of July and some producers reported decline in the body condition of livestock. The high temperatures have caused crops to rapidly mature as we enter into August.
A dry month such as July 1997 in Texas reminds many of us of the dry year which occurred in 1996. Since January 1st however, precipitation across the Lone Star State has been well above normal in most locations. Only two of the first-order stations in Texas have precipitation totals that are below normal for 1997 (through the end of July). In comparison, only one of these stations was above normal at the same time last year. The table below shows the precipitation totals thus far for 1997 along with the same totals through July for 1996.
January-July 1996 January-July 1997
Total Amt(In) % of Normal Total Amt(In) % of Normal
Abilene 9.86 75 16.20 124
Amarillo 9.46 82 13.79 121
Austin 9.52 51 28.23 152
Brownsville 1.45 12 15.29 127
College Station 11.17 51 25.78 117
Corpus Christi 4.32 28 18.13 120
Dallas/Ft Worth 14.01 65 25.55 127
Del Rio 2.31 17 17.71 178
El Paso 4.41 120 3.99 112
Galveston 6.40 29 28.98 135
Houston 12.22 41 35.94 140
Lubbock 7.74 76 15.51 155
Midland 3.55 48 10.44 141
Port Arthur 18.75 60 30.22 98
San Angelo 7.02 65 16.02 150
San Antonio 5.81 33 20.31 117
Victoria 10.07 42 42.28 207
Waco 10.63 56 28.63 152
Wichita Falls 7.19 43 13.79 82
Shreveport, LA 21.86 74 43.55 157
The lack of moisture in 1996 cost the residents of Texas milllions of dollars in damage, particularly in the agricultural sector. So far in 1997, incredible damage has occurred from floods. The most notable of these occurred over a widespread region in the Hill Country during the latter part of June. Other than those affected by floodwaters, Texans have welcomed the excess precipitation which has helped the state recover from the previously dry weather. To this we say "What a difference a year can make!!".
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