What Would It Take to End This Drought?

With the drought & heat wave firmly entrenched in most of Texas, the question has to be asked.."when will this end??"

Of course, it is summer in Texas and that usually means less rainfall and higher temperatures.  The difference this year has been how quickly the intense heat has settled in to our state.  This has intensified the drought over most of Texas, which was already bad before the hot weather arrived.

The only part of the Lone Star State not in an official drought is the Metroplex northward along the Red River.  The reason for this is the beneficial rains we saw in May and June.  There weren't very many days of wet weather, but the times we did see rain, it was heavy & helpful.  Otherwise, we would be in the deep hole the rest of the state is in.

Nevertheless, city officials are already looking at water restrictions in many areas in North Texas.  Mandatory water use restrictions are in effect for other parts of Texas.  This time of year, about one inch of water evaporates off our lakes and reservoirs every two days.

In order to end the drought in one month, we would need a record amount of rainfall in the next 30 days...up to 900% of our normal rainfall!  If anything, it looks like we'll see less than our average rainfall in the coming weeks.  The Metroplex is at risk over the rest of the summer of falling back into official drought conditions.