Volume 22  Number 9                                                                             SEPTEMBER 2009

          The beginning of the month began just as August ended, hot and humid, with temperatures average to slightly above average across the state. During the second week of the month, an area of low pressure drew moisture in from the Gulf of Mexico, providing some much needed rain to many parts of Texas. The first two weeks of September saw some impressive rain totals, particularly in the Metroplex with some areas picking up more than 10” of total precipitation just to the south of town.  As the third week summer came to a close, autumn officially began and temperatures started to have a crisper, Fall-like feel. A cold front moved into the Texas, cooling temperatures down statewide in addition to bringing showers and thunderstorms to Central Texas, with McLennan County and areas just to the west reporting in excess of 2” of precipitation. 

          A cut off low reinforced the cooler weather as it moved very slowly and remained almost stationary for several days across Northeast Texas during the last part of the September. The system brought a continuous light to moderate rain to a large area in the Northeast part of the state. Northeast and North Central Texas did not particularly need the rain after a summer of above normal precipitation. However, September rains that fell to the South were much needed and did a great deal to improve the drought situation, though large long-term precipitation deficits remained in most of South Texas. For instance, the 6.27” of September precipitation in Corpus Christi was more than had fallen the first eight months of 2009 (4.10”) combined! As the month closed a high pressure system settled over most of Texas, with the month ending much like it began with warm and humid conditions. The first weekend of fall felt more like a summer weekend, with temperatures across much of the state topping out in the 90s.

 

 

SEPTEMBER 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

83.5

-3.2

95

61.8

-2.6

49

72.6

-2.9

10

3.55

122%

1.28

11

247

Amarillo

79.7

-2.1

94

54.5

-1.8

39

67.1

-2.0

8

0.83

44%

0.21

52

123

Austin

87.6

-2.5

101

68.7

-0.1

58

78.1

-1.4

10

6.86

236%

2.39

5

409

Brownsville

90.1

0.7

97

74.0

1.4

63

82.0

1.0

13

9.43

178%

2.72

0

517

College Station

87.3

-3.6

100

70.1

1.6

60

78.7

-1.0

11

7.42

190%

1.75

0

416

Corpus Christi

89.5

-0.4

96

73.1

1.5

61

81.3

0.5

8

6.27

125%

2.80

0

497

Dallas-Fort Worth

85.1

-2.6

96

67.2

0.0

55

76.1

-1.4

11

6.52

269%

2.66

0

340

Del Rio

88.7

-1.9

97

69.8

0.4

57

79.2

-0.8

7

3.37

164%

1.52

1

437

El Paso

87.1

0.0

94

64.0

0.3

55

75.5

0.1

7

2.50

155%

0.80

2

325

Galveston

85.8

-0.7

91

74.9

-0.7

70

80.3

-0.8

8

5.24

91%

1.38

0

467

Houston

87.0

-2.3

94

71.0

2.6

62

79.0

0.1

9

4.68

108%

1.61

0

430

Lubbock

83.3

-0.1

96

57.5

-0.9

41

70.4

-0.5

6

2.46

96%

1.56

22

191

Midland

84.7

-1.4

95

60.5

-1.1

46

72.6

-1.3

7

2.47

107%

1.58

13

246

Port Arthur

85.9

-2.1

93

70.3

0.9

62

78.1

-0.6

10

4.89

80%

1.76

0

401

San Angelo

87.6

1.0

97

69.3

6.3

57

78.4

3.6

11

6.35

215%

1.97

7

416

San Antonio

86.4

-3.6

95

62.7

-6.1

49

74.5

-4.9

8

5.66

189%

2.10

0

294

Victoria

86.6

-3.3

101

68.0

-2.3

57

77.3

-2.8

12

8.24

165%

2.45

2

380

Waco

85.4

-4.7

100

63.4

-3.6

49

74.4

-4.2

10

4.09

142%

1.46

7

299

Wichita Falls

89.3

1.8

99

70.5

6.8

62

79.9

4.3

9

6.44

202%

1.76

0

456

Shreveport, LA

84.7

-2.9

94

67.2

0.8

52

75.9

-1.1

12

2.58

80%

0.83

0

337

* 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.

 

 

-2.

                                                                                           

 

CLIMATIC AVERAGES FOR OCTOBER

 

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

77.6

103

54.4

23

2.90

10.68

4.99

2.2

0.3

6.2

93

118

Amarillo

71.8

99

44.6

12

1.50

6.48

2.38

0.8

2.3

5.0

239

26

Austin

81.4

98

59.8

30

3.97

12.39

6.24

4.4

0.0

7.4

32

207

Brownsville

84.0

96

65.9

35

3.78

17.12

9.09

6.2

0.0

7.3

6

332

College Station

82.0

98

59.0

29

4.22

12.91

5.28

3.2

0.1

7.2

25

196

Corpus Christi

83.6

98

64.0

28

3.94

12.03

7.92

5.5

0.0

6.7

12

300

Dallas-Fort Worth

77.9

102

56.4

29

4.11

14.18

3.81

3.3

0.1

7.1

52

118

Del Rio

81.7

106

60.5

28

2.00

11.33

7.60

5.1

0.1

5.7

24

217

El Paso

77.9

96

51.8

25

0.81

4.31

1.75

2.4

0.5

4.9

89

71

Galveston

79.7

94

68.4

39

3.49

9.04

7.76

0.3

0.0

6.7

6

286

Houston

82.0

96

58.8

29

4.50

17.64

9.25

3.1

0.1

7.5

37

196

Lubbock

74.4

100

47.0

18

1.70

10.80

5.43

1.2

1.0

5.1

163

46

Midland

77.4

101

51.3

24

1.77

7.45

3.59

2.4

0.3

4.7

103

83

Port Arthur

80.5

95

59.6

30

4.67

15.09

7.96

1.5

0.1

6.5

34

195

San Angelo

77.8

100

53.0

26

2.57

8.68

4.97

2.7

0.3

5.6

84

112

San Antonio

82.0

99

59.4

27

3.86

18.07

11.26

4.9

0.0

6.9

33

215

Victoria

83.0

109

61.6

31

4.26

17.25

8.05

4.9

0.0

7.3

22

248

Waco

80.4

101

56.7

25

3.67

10.51

3.72

4.5

0.1

6.9

58

170

Wichita Falls

77.1

102

52.4

21

3.11

7.86

4.34

3.3

0.4

7.0

106

99

Shreveport, LA

78.3

99

55.0

28

4.45

12.05

6.81

1.8

0.2

7.4

78

119

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 September

 

September 16, 1875:  Hurricane.  Struck Indianola, Calhoun County.  Three-fourths of town swept away; 176 lives lost.  Flooding from the bay caused nearly all destruction.

 

September 8-9, 1900:  Hurricane.  Galveston.  The Great Galveston Storm was the worst natural disaster in U.S. history in terms of human life.  Loss of life at Galveston has been estimated at 6,000 to 8,000, but the exact number has never been exactly determined.  The island was completely inundated; not a single structure escaped damage.  Most of the loss of life was due to drowning by storm tides that reached 15 feet or more.  The anemometer blew away when the wind reached 100 miles per hour at 6:15 p.m. on the 8th.  Wind reached an estimated maximum velocity of 120 mph between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m.  Property damage has been estimated at $30 to $40 million.

 

September 8-10, 1921:  Rainstorm.  Probably the greatest rainstorm in Texas history, it entered Mexico as a hurricane from the Gulf.  Torrential rains fell as the storm moved northeasterly across Texas.  Record floods occurred in Bexar, Travis, Williamson, Bell and Milam counties, killing 215 persons, with property losses over $19 million.  Five to nine feet of water stood in downtown San Antonio.  A total of 23.98 inches was measured at the U.S. Weather Bureau station at Taylor during a period of 35 hours, with a 24-hour maximum of 23.11 on September 9-10.  The greatest rainfall recorded in United States history during 18 consecutive hours fell at Thrall, Williamson County, 36.40 inches fell on Sept. 9.

 

September 8-14, 1961:  Hurricane Carla.  Port O'Connor; maximum wind gust at Port Lavaca estimated at 175 mph.  Highest tide was 18.5 feet at Port Lavaca.  Most damage was to coastal counties between Corpus Christi and Port Arthur and inland Jackson, Harris and Wharton counties.  In Texas, 34 persons died; seven in a tornado that swept across Galveston Island; 465 persons were injured.  Property and crop damage conservatively estimated at $300 million.  The evacuation of an estimated 250,000 persons kept loss of life low.  Hurricane Carla was the largest hurricane of record.

 

September 9-13, 1971:  Hurricane Fern.  Coastal Bend.  Ten to 26 inches of rain resulted in some of the worst flooding since Hurricane Beulah in 1967.  Two persons killed; losses were $30,231,000.

 

September 5, 2000:  Excessive heat resulted in at least eight all-time high temperature records around the state, one of which was Possum Kingdom Lake which reached 114°F.  This day is being regarded as the hottest day ever in Texas.

 

September 13, 2008: Hurricane Ike. The third most destructive hurricane to ever make landfall in the United States. The hurricane hit Galveston at two in the morning on September 13, 2008. The hurricane made landfall as a Category 2 with winds of 110 mph and a storm surge of 21.5 feet. A total of 37 people lost their lives with more than a dozen people still missing. An estimated 20 inches of rain fell in some parts of Texas over a two day period. Estimated damages are $24 billion.

 

Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon (State Climatologist)

BRENT MCRoberts (Assistant STATE CLIMATOLOGIST)

Marissa PAzos (Undergraduate Assistant)