Drought Information Statement for South Central Texas Valid February 6, 2025 Issued By: NWS Austin/San Antonio Contact Information: sr-ewx.webmaster@noaa.gov This product will be updated March 6, 2025 or sooner if drought conditions change significantly. Please see all currently available products at https://drought.gov/drought-information-statements. Please visit https://www.weather.gov/ewx/DroughtInformationStatement for previous statements. Please visit https://www.drought.gov/drought-status-updates/ for regional drought status updates. January rainfall allowed for isolated improvement in drought conditions over the Coastal Plains Wildfire forecast to be above normal through April Streamflow and reservoirs remain very low Monthly and Seasonal outlooks advertise drought persistence U.S. Drought Monitor Drought intensity and Extent D3 (Extreme Drought): Covers portions of the southern Edwards Plateau, Rio Grande Plains, and I-35 Corridor Percent of Area: 35.24% D2 (Severe Drought): Extends across much of the Hill Country, Edwards Plateau, Rio Grande Plains I-35 Corridor, and portions of the Coastal Plains Percent of Area: 38.66% D1 (Moderate Drought): Encompasses much of the Coastal Plains, and portions of the Hill Country, and Southern Edwards Plateau Percent of Area: 24.53% Recent Change in Drought Intensity Four Week Drought Monitor Class Change. Drought Worsened: Portions of the Hill Country, southern Edwards Plateau, I-35 Corridor, and Coastal Plains. No Change: Much of south central Texas. Drought Improved: small portions of Burnet, Williamson, and Karnes Counties. Precipitation Much of the service area saw below normal rainfall over the past 30 days. The main exception would be portions of the Coastal Plains and Hill Country which saw between 150% to greater than 200%. This rainfall occurred mainly two rainfall events which bookended the January. Summary of Impacts Hydrologic Impacts Streamflows across much of the service area remain in the below to much below normal streamflow for late early February. The exception to this would be streams that received rainfall from late January showers. (USGS) Area reservoirs remain extremely low across the service area. See next page for more details Agricultural Impacts Please see the latest Crop & Weather Report from Texas A&M Agrilife Soil moistures across the service area are shown in the below to well below normal range as of February 5th. (NWS Climate Prediction Center) Fire Hazard Impacts Above normal wildland fire potential is expected for February. This activity is expected to persist into April. (National Interagency Coordination Center) See Fire Hazard page for more details Drought Mitigation Actions Please refer to your municipality and/or water provider for mitigation information. Select Municipality Restrictions (as of 2/5/2025) City of Uvalde: Stage 5 City of Fredericksburg: Stage 4 City of Kerrville: Stage 3 City of San Antonio: Stage 3 City of Universal City: Stage 3 City of Llano: Stage 2 City of Georgetown: Stage 2 City of New Braunfels: Stage 2 City of Austin: Stage 2 City of Del Rio: Stage 2 Hydrologic Conditions and Impacts Reservoir Pool Elevation Current Elevation Percent Full Amistad 1117.00 feet 1051.21 feet 26.4% Lake Austin 492.9 feet 492.31 feet 96.9% Lake Buchanan 1020.00 feet 1002.45 feet 59.5% Canyon Lake 909.00 feet 879.88 feet 49.0% Georgetown Lake 791.00 feet 780.03 feet 66.5% Granger Lake 504.00 feet 503.55 feet 96.5% Lake LBJ 825.00 feet 824.78 feet 98.7% Lake Marble Falls 738.00 feet 736.48 feet 95.8% Medina Lake 1064.2 feet 971.42 feet 2.5% Lake Travis 681.00 feet 637.37 feet 43.3% Figure Caption: USGS 7 day streamflows for Texas, valid February 5, 2025. Table caption: TWDB Reservoir conditions as of February 5, 2025 Streamflows across much of the service area remain in the below to much below normal streamflow for late early February. The exception to this would be streams that received rainfall from late January showers. Additional data: Edwards Aquifer, Bexar Index Well J-17 as of February 5, 2025: 10 day average: 631.1 Historical Monthly Average: 668.5 Departure from Average: -37.9 Agricultural Impacts Soil moistures across the service area are shown in the below to well below normal range as of February 5th. Crop moisture index values show normal conditions across all of our service area as of February 1st. Fire Hazard Impacts Keetch Byram Drought Index values of less than 400 are primarily in portions of the Coastal Plains from above normal monthly rainfall. Values range between 500 and 800 across a majority of the service area. Above normal wildland fire potential is expected for February. Burn bans remain for 20 of our 33 counties as of February 5, 2025. Latest County Burn Ban map available here. Long-Range Outlooks The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage The temperature outlook for the month of February leans towards above normal for the entire service area. The precipitation outlook leans towards below normal rainfall for much of the service area. The exception is equal chances for above, below, or near normal for eastern portions of the Hill Country, I-35 corridor, and Coastal Plains. The seasonal outlook for temperature and precipitation advertises similar trends through the end of April. Drought Outlook The monthly drought outlook for February shows drought persisting for the entire service area. The three month outlook shows drought persisting through April for the entire service area. The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage