Half of Texas now under 'exceptional' drought

[rpannier]

LUBBOCK, Texas — A devastating drought tightened its grip on Texas over the last week with more than half the state now suffering the most extreme level of drought measured by climatologists.

A report released Thursday from a consortium of national climate experts said over the last week, Texas saw the highest levels of drought — rated as "exceptional" — jump from 43.97 percent of the state to 50.65 percent of the state.

Meanwhile, to the north in Oklahoma, another key farming and ranching state, about 30 percent of the state continued to suffer severe and exceptional drought levels.

snip

The persistent drought in the south comes even as too much rain has been falling to the north. Widespread showers and thunderstorms dropped 2-3 inches of moisture across parts of southern Nebraska, northern and central Kansas, and northeastern Colorado over the last week.

link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43253865...ional-drought/

[krispos42]

1. Wow, I sure am glad that global climate change is a myth.

I mean, sure there's LOCAL climate change.


Pretty much everywhere on the planet.


But that's not GLOBAL climate change! Nope nope nope!

Whew!

[seabeyond]

2. i just started a thread. we have had .016" all year. nt

[givemebackmycountry]

3. SB-

I recall that when I lived in Dallas from 1987 through 1991 we got some extreme weather.
The worst ice storm (or one of them) I have ever had the pleasure of being in.
Rain.
Torrential, flood causing rain.
And cold.
And heat.
Burning, relentless, heat.
Went to a wedding in October.
113 degrees.

Texas.
No place like it.

[seabeyond]

4. lol lol... only a handful more years. but the weather can be extreme

we had 25 below this winter and no snow. go figure.

[Tx4obama]

5. At my house in Houston ....

In the whole month of April it rained at my house for 1 1/2 hours one afternoon and stopped.
In the whole month of May it rained at my house one evening for 1 hour.

I am so looking forward to some rain!

[Lisa0825]

8. I can't remember the last time I got more than a passing drizzle,

I am down on the coast, far enough inland that the gulf breeze doesn't make me cooler, but far enough south that almost all of the rain in the past 5 months has stalled north of me.

[Lisa0825]

6. I picked the wrong year to try gardening again...

I am on the Texas Gulf Coast. Between the water and supplies, I am way over budget for my veggie hobby. My lawn is crunchy, and I am watering my house to support the foundation.

Today we broke a record temp, and it was the earliest this temp has ever been recorded in this area.

I am sick of summer already. *pout* :mad:

[Suich]

10. What's that mean..."watering my house to support

the foundation?"

I haven't heard of that before...

:shrug:

[Tx4obama]

11. Down here in Texas most houses are built on concrete slabs ...

When we go thru droughts the earth begins to crack and shift.
By watering around the outside of the house around the foundation (usually with a soaker hose) it helps the dirt, which will help to keep the house from shifting which causes cracks in the brick mortar outside and cracks on the walls in the inside of the house.

[Fleshdancer]

7. Suck on that Florida! We Texans are exceptional in drou...hey wait a minute!

Damn it! x(

Seriously though, it's hot and dry over here. Record level hot and stuff. :(

[Blue-Jay]

9. In other news, half of Texas is exceptional.

[Uben]

12. Well, I'm the exception

I live in north Texas, damn near in Oklahoma. There certainly hasn't been any record amounts of rain, but we have had well timed downpours that have kept us about normal this spring. The lake I live at is full and running over the spillway. The grass is all green and plush, and we have had a nice spring, temp wise. But, that is subject to change, as any Texan knows. Tomorrow, temps will hit the upper nineties, and there's no rain in the forecast for the next ten days. It may well be wet as hell in June here, but I suspect I'll be paying high water bills again this summer! That's life in Texas. Been here for 56 years. Even with the heat and droughts, I'm not going anywhere. I'm used to it by now, and I can't stand cold weather!

[MrDiaz]

13. I live in Houston

It has rained 2 times in the past 2 months, No shit.

[Uben]

14. I got a fishin buddy in Pearland

.....he's told me about their dry spell. We have been really lucky. It was a pretty dry winter here. We didn't have a run-off rain for months, and have only had a couple (say 2" or more)since, but we've had enough 1/2 inch rains to keep us out of the drought.

[WatsonT]

15. We need giant cooling towers

condense humidity out of the air.

That would give us enough clean water to build our own great lake. Maybe up where Oklahoma is right now. I don't think anyone is using it.