Author: David Reimer

The last 30 days have featured below-average precipitation across the Texas Panhandle, West Texas, Northwest Texas, the Concho Valley, Hill Country, into South-Central Texas. A few spots did receive above-average rain amounts over the last month, including around the Borderland, Alpine, parts of D/FW, the Middle Coastal Bend, and far Southeast Texas. Those areas that did receive heavy rains over the last month mostly did so due to slow-moving summer thunderstorms. Their impacts were limited due to their slow movement, with locations only a few miles away hardly receiving a drop. A few thunderstorm complexes did progress eastward in the early part of June, but those did not alleviate dry weather concerns.  The eastern Texas Panhandle, far Northwest Texas, and Southwestern Oklahoma only received 2 to 15 percent of their normal rainfall. Keep in mind this graphic takes into account rains over the last 30 days, a good indicator on how surface fuels may be reacting. Per the US Drought Monitor, we’ve seen moderate drought conditions have expanded over the last week in the southeastern Texas Panhandle, far Northwest Texas, into portions of West Texas. Abnormally dry conditions now encompass just under a quarter of Texas’s real estate. Most lakes remain in fairly good shape. The concern for the next few weeks, assuming the drought isn’t eliminated by future rainfall, will be the increased risk of wildfires. Summer does not...