Volume
22 Number 10 OCTOBER 2009
The month of October was a fairly wet month for the eastern
part of the state while the western and south parts of the state were drier
than normal. October began with a bang in Johnson County, where a severe thunderstorm
brought winds in excess of 80 mph. All of Texas was affected by several cold
fronts, with a progressive weather pattern that was seemingly different every
day. For the month, a combination of these fronts and rainy days kept
temperatures below normal in North and Central Texas. Several cities in the
Panhandle of Texas saw temperatures dip to record lows the morning of the 2nd.
The cold spot was Dimmit, where the mercury dipped to 28°F, which was in stark
contrast to the high temperature of 95°F recorded two days earlier in nearby
Plainview. The rest of the state saw temperatures near normal for the month.
Unsettled weather in the final third of the month was brought by remnants of
Hurricane Rick. Much of the eastern half of the state saw heavy rainfall, and
several tornadoes were reported on the 29th near the Texas-Louisiana border in
Northeast Texas. The final few days of October saw a high pressure system that
brought clear skies around much of the state, which was an October rarity in
some areas but made for good Halloween weather.
The rains in South Central Texas
were extremely beneficial, greatly improving the drought conditions that were
present going into the month. Flash flooding plagued much of the northeastern
quarter of the state during October, causing numerous traffic accidents, road
closures, and unfortunately, a few fatalities. San Antonio received nearly 12”
of precipitation for the month, with 5.42" falling on the 4th alone,
helping improve a water supply that had been very low for some time in the
area. Although portions of South Texas have seen improvement in drought
conditions, Corpus Christi and much of the Coastal Bend has not received enough
rainfall to break an exceptional drought that has been present for some time.
By the end of October, Corpus Christi was 15.88" below normal for the
year, less than half of the precipitation the city normally receives. For the
month, Port Arthur received the most rain out of the first-order stations
receiving nearly 15 inches of rain, though radar estimates in far Northeast
Texas indicate some areas may have received over 20 inches of precipitation
during the month.
OCTOBER 2009
|
|
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 |
72.0 |
-5.6 |
93 |
50.2 |
-4.2 |
34 |
61.1 |
-4.9 |
11 |
3.40 |
117% |
0.76 |
164 |
48 |
|
Amarillo |
66.6 |
-5.2 |
90 |
40.1 |
-4.5 |
23 |
53.4 |
-4.8 |
10 |
1.41 |
94% |
0.34 |
370 |
20 |
|
Austin |
78.1 |
-3.3 |
92 |
59.4 |
-0.4 |
46 |
68.8 |
-1.8 |
11 |
6.88 |
173% |
2.08 |
43 |
168 |
|
Brownsville |
86.5 |
2.5 |
93 |
69.0 |
3.1 |
51 |
77.7 |
2.7 |
9 |
3.12 |
83% |
1.31 |
0 |
400 |
|
College Station |
78.3 |
-3.7 |
93 |
60.5 |
1.5 |
45 |
69.4 |
-1.1 |
15 |
8.25 |
195% |
2.53 |
51 |
195 |
|
Corpus Christi |
84.8 |
1.2 |
96 |
66.3 |
2.3 |
45 |
75.5 |
1.7 |
10 |
2.43 |
62% |
0.94 |
8 |
344 |
|
Dallas-Fort Worth |
71.8 |
-6.1 |
89 |
53.5 |
-2.9 |
41 |
62.7 |
-4.5 |
18 |
8.05 |
196% |
2.42 |
115 |
52 |
|
Del Rio |
81.2 |
-0.5 |
99 |
60.4 |
-0.1 |
38 |
70.8 |
-0.3 |
7 |
0.65 |
33% |
0.48 |
37 |
224 |
|
El Paso |
77.5 |
-0.4 |
87 |
53.2 |
1.4 |
33 |
65.4 |
0.5 |
5 |
0.21 |
26% |
0.07 |
98 |
117 |
|
Galveston |
M |
M |
M |
M |
M |
M |
M |
M |
9 |
6.76 |
194% |
1.35 |
M |
M |
|
Houston |
80.3 |
-1.7 |
93 |
61.7 |
2.9 |
47 |
71.0 |
0.6 |
16 |
13.16 |
292% |
3.05 |
32 |
227 |
|
Lubbock |
72.0 |
-2.4 |
93 |
44.3 |
-2.7 |
29 |
58.1 |
-2.6 |
10 |
0.78 |
46% |
0.23 |
251 |
47 |
|
Midland |
75.6 |
-1.8 |
94 |
49.4 |
-1.9 |
31 |
62.5 |
-1.9 |
8 |
0.96 |
54% |
0.53 |
162 |
89 |
|
Port Arthur |
78.5 |
-2.0 |
90 |
61.5 |
1.9 |
45 |
70.0 |
-0.1 |
16 |
14.90 |
319% |
2.64 |
49 |
213 |
|
San Angelo |
77.5 |
-0.3 |
96 |
52.5 |
-0.5 |
32 |
65.0 |
-0.4 |
7 |
2.92 |
114% |
0.92 |
110 |
120 |
|
San Antonio |
79.5 |
-2.5 |
93 |
60.3 |
0.9 |
41 |
69.9 |
-0.8 |
9 |
11.90 |
308% |
5.42 |
44 |
202 |
|
Victoria |
82.4 |
-0.6 |
93 |
62.9 |
1.3 |
45 |
72.6 |
0.3 |
12 |
6.37 |
150% |
1.84 |
19 |
264 |
|
Waco |
75.2 |
-5.2 |
90 |
55.5 |
-1.2 |
40 |
65.4 |
-3.2 |
13 |
9.71 |
265% |
2.42 |
81 |
98 |
|
Wichita Falls |
68.8 |
-8.3 |
90 |
48.9 |
-3.5 |
35 |
58.8 |
-5.9 |
12 |
4.32 |
139% |
1.30 |
197 |
17 |
|
Shreveport, LA |
72.5 |
-5.8 |
92 |
53.7 |
-1.3 |
39 |
63.1 |
-3.6 |
16 |
20.35 |
457% |
5.88 |
128 |
76 |
* 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 NOVEMBER
|
|
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 |
65.1 |
92 |
42.3 |
13 |
1.3 |
5.82 |
2.43 |
0.0 |
5.3 |
4.7 |
353 |
15 |
|
Amarillo |
58.4 |
87 |
31.8 |
0 |
0.7 |
5.09 |
1.53 |
0.0 |
15.9 |
4.1 |
594 |
0 |
|
Austin |
70.1 |
91 |
49.3 |
20 |
2.7 |
14.10 |
7.55 |
0.0 |
0.8 |
8.2 |
205 |
51 |
|
Brownsville |
76.8 |
98 |
58.6 |
27 |
1.8 |
7.69 |
4.08 |
0.5 |
0.0 |
5.9 |
69 |
166 |
|
College Station |
70.9 |
94 |
49.1 |
19 |
3.2 |
13.06 |
4.66 |
0.0 |
1.5 |
8.1 |
203 |
53 |
|
Corpus Christi |
74.9 |
98 |
55.4 |
28 |
1.7 |
8.64 |
4.55 |
0.4 |
0.2 |
6.3 |
103 |
122 |
|
Dallas-Fort Worth |
65.1 |
89 |
45.1 |
19 |
2.6 |
7.94 |
3.89 |
0.0 |
2.9 |
6.4 |
312 |
15 |
|
Del Rio |
70.9 |
96 |
49.2 |
17 |
1.0 |
4.71 |
2.74 |
0.2 |
1.1 |
5.0 |
183 |
41 |
|
El Paso |
65.5 |
87 |
39.8 |
1 |
0.4 |
2.50 |
1.19 |
0.0 |
8.1 |
3.1 |
386 |
2 |
|
Galveston |
71.3 |
85 |
59.4 |
26 |
3.6 |
16.18 |
9.01 |
0.0 |
0.6 |
8.7 |
112 |
122 |
|
Houston |
72.0 |
89 |
49.8 |
19 |
4.2 |
14.10 |
6.33 |
0.0 |
1.3 |
8.6 |
189 |
65 |
|
Lubbock |
61.6 |
90 |
34.5 |
-1 |
0.7 |
6.65 |
1.65 |
0.0 |
10.3 |
3.7 |
491 |
0 |
|
Midland |
65.8 |
90 |
38.8 |
10 |
0.7 |
5.42 |
2.18 |
0.0 |
6.9 |
3.1 |
380 |
4 |
|
Port Arthur |
70.9 |
94 |
50.8 |
22 |
4.8 |
22.74 |
7.26 |
0.0 |
0.8 |
8.4 |
181 |
63 |
|
San Angelo |
66.5 |
93 |
41.4 |
13 |
1.1 |
5.18 |
2.57 |
0.1 |
5.8 |
4.2 |
330 |
16 |
|
San Antonio |
71.4 |
94 |
48.6 |
21 |
2.6 |
9.46 |
4.87 |
0.1 |
1.9 |
7.3 |
197 |
57 |
|
Victoria |
73.0 |
93 |
52.3 |
18 |
2.6 |
16.14 |
9.20 |
0.1 |
0.6 |
7.5 |
145 |
83 |
|
Waco |
67.8 |
92 |
45.8 |
17 |
2.6 |
10.36 |
4.26 |
0.1 |
2.9 |
7.5 |
271 |
34 |
|
Wichita Falls |
63.7 |
89 |
40.1 |
14 |
1.7 |
7.39 |
2.58 |
0.0 |
6.6 |
5.5 |
395 |
10 |
|
Shreveport, LA |
66.8 |
88 |
45.3 |
16 |
4.7 |
10.81 |
6.51 |
0.0 |
3.0 |
8.9 |
296 |
24 |
*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 November
November 23rd – 24th, 1974: Flash Flooding in Central Texas with over $1 million in
property damage. Thirteen people were
killed, ten in Travis County.
Dr.
John Nielsen-Gammon (State Climatologist)
Brent
McRoberts (Research Associate)
Marissa
Pazos (Undergraduate Assistant)