Volume
23 Number 1 JANUARY 2010
Signs of El Nino still building in the Pacific Ocean were
seen statewide this month, as January was another wet and cold month for the
state of Texas. Some parts of the Lone Star State saw the coldest temperatures they
have seen in two decades. All first-order stations received rain, and all but
six stations received more than normal rainfall. Waco received 5.30" of
precipitation, including 4.50" falling in a 24-hour period from the
28th-29th. Several storm systems passed though the state, including an outbreak
of severe weather on the 20th. The National Weather Service confirmed that at
least five tornadoes damaged parts of East Texas, with twisters that touched
down near Canton, Sulphur Springs, Larue and Poynor. There were reports of
penny to golf ball-size hail and winds gusting up to 80 mph.
Temperatures this month were below
normal for most of the state, in large part because of an Arctic blast that
slammed the state during the first full week of 2010. Amarillo recorded a low
temperature of 2°F on the morning of the 8th and the mercury in Waco dipped
down to 8°F the following morning. Even typically mild Galveston recorded an
average temperature departure of -5.6°F, with a low temperature of 27°F on the
9th in a place that rarely sees temperatures dip below freezing. Even with a
great deal of frigid weather, 6 first-order stations had days with high
temperatures in the 80s. Brownsville had five consecutive days in the 80s from
the 19th-23rd, including a high of 86°F on the 23rd.
Several absolute minimum
temperature records were broken during January 2010. Austin-Bergstrom
International Airport recorded a morning low of 10°F, smashing the old record
of 20°F set back in 1976. Also, the Austin Campy Mabry a low of 17°F broke the
old record (19°F), set back in 1962. With an active Pacific Jet Stream typical
of El Nino expected to persist into February, cooler and wetter than normal
weather is forecast to stick around according to the Climate Prediction Center.
This long-range forecast should help the last few counties in South Texas that
are still dealing with drought conditions.
JANUARY 2010
|
|
TMAX |
TMIN |
Mean Temp |
Precipitation |
|
|||||||||
|
Station |
Avg. |
Dep. |
Abs. Max |
Avg. |
Dep. |
Abs. Min |
Avg. |
Dep. |
No. Days |
Total (In.) |
Percent Avg. |
Gr'st 24 hr.
(In.) |
HDD* |
CDD* |
|
Abilene |
53.9 |
-1.3 |
85 |
31.8 |
0.0 |
13 |
42.8 |
-0.7 |
4 |
3.15 |
325% |
2.84 |
682 |
1 |
|
Amarillo |
50.0 |
1.1 |
71 |
22.2 |
-0.4 |
2 |
36.1 |
0.3 |
2 |
0.94 |
149% |
0.93 |
889 |
0 |
|
Austin |
59.0 |
-1.3 |
76 |
38.6 |
-1.4 |
17 |
48.8 |
-1.4 |
6 |
3.29 |
174% |
1.86 |
500 |
2 |
|
Brownsville |
70.2 |
1.5 |
86 |
50.9 |
0.4 |
29 |
60.6 |
1.0 |
5 |
0.61 |
45% |
0.58 |
180 |
51 |
|
College Station |
58.1 |
-2.5 |
77 |
38.0 |
-1.8 |
18 |
48.0 |
-2.2 |
10 |
2.93 |
88% |
1.71 |
524 |
5 |
|
Corpus Christi |
62.6 |
-3.4 |
79 |
45.4 |
-0.8 |
24 |
54.0 |
-2.1 |
5 |
2.76 |
170% |
2.17 |
346 |
10 |
|
Dallas-Fort Worth |
54.0 |
-0.1 |
76 |
34.5 |
0.5 |
13 |
44.3 |
0.2 |
8 |
2.76 |
145% |
2.37 |
634 |
0 |
|
Del Rio |
58.9 |
-3.9 |
82 |
39.5 |
-0.2 |
18 |
49.2 |
-2.1 |
5 |
2.52 |
442% |
1.32 |
484 |
2 |
|
El Paso |
55.5 |
-1.7 |
66 |
31.5 |
-1.4 |
18 |
43.5 |
-1.6 |
5 |
0.66 |
147% |
0.35 |
659 |
0 |
|
Galveston |
56.7 |
-5.2 |
77 |
44.1 |
-5.6 |
27 |
50.4 |
-5.4 |
8 |
2.27 |
56% |
1.16 |
446 |
2 |
|
Houston |
59.1 |
-3.2 |
78 |
39.0 |
-2.2 |
20 |
49.0 |
-2.8 |
7 |
2.53 |
69% |
1.35 |
497 |
9 |
|
Lubbock |
53.2 |
1.3 |
77 |
25.3 |
0.9 |
11 |
39.2 |
1.1 |
2 |
1.41 |
282% |
1.36 |
792 |
0 |
|
Midland |
56.3 |
-0.5 |
81 |
27.6 |
-2.0 |
15 |
42.0 |
-1.2 |
3 |
1.64 |
309% |
1.45 |
705 |
0 |
|
Port Arthur |
57.7 |
-3.8 |
77 |
38.0 |
-4.9 |
18 |
47.9 |
-4.3 |
7 |
2.72 |
48% |
1.71 |
528 |
3 |
|
San Angelo |
59.2 |
1.3 |
85 |
31.1 |
-0.7 |
10 |
45.1 |
0.2 |
5 |
2.16 |
263% |
1.70 |
611 |
3 |
|
San Antonio |
60.0 |
-2.1 |
78 |
39.4 |
0.8 |
16 |
49.7 |
-0.6 |
5 |
4.45 |
268% |
3.14 |
468 |
1 |
|
Victoria |
62.4 |
-0.4 |
80 |
39.9 |
-3.7 |
17 |
51.2 |
-2.0 |
7 |
3.03 |
124% |
2.75 |
429 |
8 |
|
Waco |
55.3 |
-1.7 |
76 |
32.8 |
-2.3 |
8 |
44.0 |
-2.1 |
7 |
5.29 |
278% |
4.50 |
642 |
0 |
|
Wichita Falls |
50.6 |
-1.5 |
77 |
28.6 |
-0.3 |
10 |
39.6 |
-0.9 |
6 |
1.76 |
157% |
1.32 |
778 |
0 |
|
Shreveport, LA |
54.5 |
-1.7 |
75 |
33.3 |
-3.2 |
15 |
43.9 |
-2.5 |
10 |
3.09 |
67% |
1.59 |
654 |
4 |
* Bold
italics indicate a monthly record.
*
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 FEBRUARY
|
|
TMAX |
TMIN |
Precipitation
(In.) |
Mean Number of
Days in Month |
||||||||
|
Station |
Avg. |
Record |
Avg. |
Record |
Avg. |
Gr'st Mon. Total |
Gr'st 24 hr.
Total |
TMAX > 90°F |
TMIN < 32°F |
Days PRCP ≥
0.01" |
HDD* |
CDD* |
|
Abilene |
60.7 |
94 |
36.5 |
-7 |
1.1 |
4.07 |
1.94 |
0.1 |
10.0 |
4.9 |
477 |
5 |
|
Amarillo |
54.1 |
88 |
27.0 |
-16 |
0.6 |
2.93 |
1.28 |
0.0 |
21.4 |
4.4 |
699 |
0 |
|
Austin |
65.1 |
99 |
44.0 |
7 |
2.0 |
9.41 |
3.73 |
0.3 |
3.5 |
7.0 |
319 |
18 |
|
Brownsville |
72.2 |
94 |
53.3 |
12 |
1.2 |
10.25 |
4.98 |
0.3 |
0.4 |
5.4 |
125 |
76 |
|
College Station |
65.5 |
99 |
43.4 |
5 |
2.4 |
9.82 |
5.05 |
0.2 |
3.8 |
7.0 |
309 |
14 |
|
Corpus Christi |
69.7 |
97 |
49.3 |
11 |
1.8 |
8.11 |
4.85 |
0.3 |
1.2 |
6.3 |
191 |
43 |
|
Dallas-Fort Worth |
60.1 |
96 |
38.7 |
-8 |
2.4 |
7.40 |
4.06 |
0.1 |
6.9 |
6.3 |
448 |
7 |
|
Del Rio |
68.0 |
99 |
44.1 |
11 |
1.0 |
7.82 |
2.57 |
0.4 |
2.7 |
4.9 |
262 |
18 |
|
El Paso |
63.4 |
86 |
37.5 |
5 |
0.4 |
1.92 |
1.02 |
0.0 |
10.7 |
3.1 |
424 |
2 |
|
Galveston |
64.4 |
83 |
51.5 |
8 |
2.6 |
8.34 |
6.55 |
0.0 |
0.8 |
7.3 |
220 |
23 |
|
Houston |
66.5 |
91 |
44.3 |
6 |
3.0 |
9.80 |
2.22 |
0.1 |
3.8 |
8.5 |
298 |
21 |
|
Lubbock |
57.8 |
89 |
28.9 |
-17 |
0.7 |
5.83 |
2.15 |
0.0 |
17.2 |
4.4 |
592 |
0 |
|
Midland |
63.0 |
90 |
34.1 |
-11 |
0.6 |
3.53 |
1.23 |
0.0 |
12.0 |
3.4 |
472 |
2 |
|
Port Arthur |
65.3 |
90 |
45.9 |
10 |
3.4 |
13.15 |
5.05 |
0.0 |
2.7 |
8.6 |
286 |
16 |
|
San Angelo |
63.5 |
97 |
36.0 |
-1 |
1.2 |
4.54 |
3.16 |
0.1 |
9.7 |
4.6 |
427 |
4 |
|
San Antonio |
67.1 |
100 |
42.4 |
4 |
1.8 |
7.88 |
2.44 |
0.3 |
4.6 |
6.8 |
303 |
19 |
|
Victoria |
66.6 |
96 |
46.7 |
15 |
2.0 |
9.08 |
3.21 |
0.1 |
2.2 |
7.3 |
249 |
26 |
|
Waco |
62.3 |
96 |
39.3 |
4 |
2.4 |
7.91 |
3.96 |
0.1 |
6.5 |
6.4 |
409 |
8 |
|
Wichita Falls |
58.1 |
93 |
33.4 |
-8 |
1.6 |
6.80 |
3.00 |
0.1 |
12.8 |
5.1 |
550 |
2 |
|
Shreveport, LA |
62.0 |
89 |
40.3 |
-5 |
4.2 |
8.96 |
3.53 |
0.0 |
7.2 |
8.1 |
408 |
7 |
*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.
Climate-related
Agricultural Information
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)
Brent
McRoberts (Research Associate)
Marissa
Pazos (Undergraduate Assistant)