Record Texas Drought...

yeah it nuts

 

I live in Austin and yeah, it's nuts. We need a tropical storm, or something similar, to dump a hell of a lot of rain where it will drain into Lakes Buchanan and Travis, and a long soaking rain all over Central and South Texas. Need it really, really bad. I've been coming up here since the mid-'60's, and this is as bad a drought as I've seen.


edit: some interesting facts from the LCRA:

This afternoon, the level of Lake Buchanan is 997.42 feet msl, which is 16.4 feet below its historic average for July. Lake Travis is at 638.26 feet msl this morning, which is 31.0 feet below the historic July average level. These lower lake levels reflect the ongoing rainfall deficit that began in the fall of 2007.

Lake Travis update:
Without significant rainfall to replenish water released for downstream uses and lost to evaporation, Lake Travis will continue to drop. The average elevation for Lake Travis in July is 669.28 feet above mean sea level.

Lake Travis has been lower during past droughts.
•October 1984: 636.58
•November 1963: 615.02
•Aug. 14, 1951 (the lake's all-time low elevation): 614.18

Lake Buchanan update:
Without significant rainfall, Lake Buchanan will continue to drop as a result of irrigation releases, increased municipal water use and evaporation. The average elevation for Lake Buchanan in July is 1,013.86 feet above mean sea level.

Lake Buchanan has been lower during past droughts:
•October 2000: 994.73
•September 1964: 986.63
•September 9, 1952 (the lake's all-time low elevation 983.70)

http://www.lcra.org/water/conditions/river_report.html


(me again)
As you can see, the lakes have been lower than this before, and not just in the 1950's, the drought of record. What's different about this drought is its duration without any rainfall to speak of. During the previous droughts, there was the occasional rain that provided relief, even as the lakes continued to drop, giving farmers and ranchers a break. With a lower population (much lower), the lakes could handle being that low. The real killer today is the shear unrelenting lack of rain and the extreme temperatures. And there is a very real risk of catastrophic fires. Keep your fingers crossed, people.

 

I've been in Colorado for most of the year at school and I have missed rain. I get home and no rain

 

On the other side of the world, it snowed in the desert this year...

Global warming seems to be working great for the Middle East lol The people of Dubai couldn't be happier!! They are a bit pissed that they built an artificial ski slope first though lol

 

It's supposed to be raining up here in Dallas all week, but all the storms just went by us today. It rained for a minute or two. It better rain this week.

I just checked Lake Lavon water levels and we're "only" 2 feet below normal. That's much better than he drought a few years ago where you could walk around what used to be the lake bed. Back around 2006, it was something like 20 feet below normal. That was a scary time.

 

I knew it was hot, but didn't know the drought was as severe as it was reported...

 

i'm going tubing this w/e

looks like we'll be walking thru the river quite a bit.

 

Well it's droughtin' down in Texas....

 

They showed on the Weather Channel that Lake Travis got to those records several years back but with substantial it filled back up in 6 months. They said a remedy could be a tropical storm but that the bad probably outweighs the good in that scenario.

 

Live in Round Rock...I've pretty much given up hope on my yard for this year. I can't afford to water as much as necessary to keep it alive with this heat. The good thing is that some of the weeds are finally dying off, too. I'll hopefully be able to start fresh next spring.

I've lived in Texas for 30 years. Heat is something you learn to tolerate. This summer, in the Austin area anyway, is simply intolerable. It's beyond ridiculous. I'm sick and tired of this summer. I want it to go away now.

The good news is that they are predicting a fairly wet late fall/winter. Apparently the El Nino in place will bring us plenty of rain...but not until November.

 

You should have stayed.....we got a nice little shower and a low of 54 last night

 

It's been raining all day here... woo hoo... I may not have to run the sprinklers this week.

 

Damn Chinese and their weather modification. They're really sticking it to us.

 

the grass is brown here.

 

Actually its the Russians who are controlling the weather. We should have exploded them when we had the chance.

 

I think I'm going to hunt you down for starting this thread. It's done nothing but rain all day.