Dozens Of North Texas Counties Now Classified As Abnormally Dry

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NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - After weeks with no rain, forecasters say conditions are now classified as "abnormally dry" in several North Texas counties, including Dallas and Tarrant.

As of Friday, August 7 North Texas has gone 30 days without any rain reported at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. That is the longest stretch of dry weather in nine years, and is hard to believe considering our very wet spring.

This time of year, the sun and heat dries out the ground quickly. And CBS 11 Storm Team Meteorologist Larry Mowry says things will probably get worse before they get better. "There is very little rain in the forecast for the next two weeks so I would expect more areas of North Texas to fall back into the drought category."

With no rain and the intense heat, parts of North Texas are quickly drying out.  Dallas and Fort Worth is considered abnormally dry (yellow shaded area).  Areas around Palestine have fallen back into the drought (peach shaded area).

Matt Stalley, with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, says it's all part of our normal summertime weather pattern. 'Typically for the next couple months… these are a couple of our driest months of the year."

Some parts of northeast Texas are now facing "moderate drought" conditions, but forecasters say reservoirs there were topped off by heavy rainfall this spring.

May was one of the three wettest months in our recorded history, with nearly 17 inches of rain falling. So, what can we expect during the end of the year?

Larry Mowry explained, "The outlook for fall is for above average rainfall, as the effects of a strong El Niño kick in.  The same looks to hold true for the winter."

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