Drought Information Statement for South Central Texas Valid May 2, 2024 Issued By: NWS Austin/San Antonio Contact Information: sr-ewx.webmaster@noaa.gov This product will be updated June 6, 2024 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. Overall, drought conditions worsen in the west while some improvement was seen across the east over the past 30 days Reservoir levels in the Hill County and along the Rio Grande remain very low Monthly outlooks show hot temperatures, but give little guidance on precipitation chances 1 U.S. Drought Monitor Drought intensity and Extent D3 (Extreme Drought): Covers portions of the Hill Country and I-35 corridor Percent of Area: 7.77% D2 (Severe Drought): Extends across the portions of the Hill Country, Rio Grande Plains, and I-35 corridor Percent of Area: 38.25% No Drought or D0 (Abnormally Dry): Extends across the portions of Rio Grande Plains, and Coastal Plains Percent of Area: 29.97% Link to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor for south central Texas https://storage.googleapis.com/noaa-nidis-drought-gov-data/current-conditions/nws-dgt-images/nws-u.s.-drought-monitor-southern.png Recent Change in Drought Intensity Link to the latest 4-week change map for south central Texas Four Week Drought Monitor Class Change. Drought Worsened: Portions of the southern Edwards Plateau, Rio Grande Plains, and localised areas in the Hill Country and Coastal Plains No Change: Portions of the southern Edwards Plateau, I-35 Corridor, Rio Grande Plains, and Hill Country Drought Improved: Small portions of the I-35 corridor, and Hill Country Precipitation Links to the latest Precipitation Accumulation and Percent of Normal over the past 30 days Less than normal rainfall was seen over the vast majority of south central Texas over the past 30 days Isolated spots in the southern Coastal Plains, I-35 corridor, and Hill Country saw above normal rainfall for the past 30 days Adjacent counties of the Rio Grande River less than 25 percent of normal Temperature Summarize conditions/impacts here Summary of Impacts Links: See/submit Condition Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR) and view the Drought Impacts Reporter Hydrologic Impacts Portions of the lower Colorado, San Antonio, and Blanco basins have normal flows (USGS) The remainder of river basins across the service area fall into either below or much below normal range (USGS) Medina Lake is now at 2.8 percent capacity, and Canyon Lake has returned to record low elevations (Texas Water Development Board) See next page for more details Agricultural Impacts Please see the latest Crop & Weather Report from Texas A&M Agrilife Soil moistures are near normal across the eastern half of the service area while the western half is experiencing below normal soil moisture (NWS Climate Prediction Center) Fire Hazard Impacts Normal wildland fire activity is forecast through the month of May (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 5/2/2024) City of Uvalde: Stage 5 City of Fredericksburg: Stage 4 City of Kerrville: Stage 2 City of Georgetown: Stage 2 City of San Antonio: Stage 2 City of Universal City: Stage 2 City of New Braunfels: Stage 2 City of Austin: Stage 2 City of Del Rio: Stage 2 City of Llano: Stage 2 Hydrologic Conditions and Impacts Reservoir Pool Elevation Current Elevation Percent Full Amistad 1117.00 feet 1050.74 feet 27.9% Medina Lake 1064.2 feet 972.55 feet 2.8% Canyon Lake 909.00 feet 886.58 feet 58.7% Granger Lake 504.00 feet 506.57 feet 100% Georgetown Lake 791.00 feet 785.03 feet 80.7% Lake Buchanan 1020.00 feet 995.46 feet 49.7% Lake LBJ 825.00 feet 824.71 feet 98.3% Lake Marble Falls 738.00 feet 736.34 feet 94.7% Lake Travis 681.00 feet 630.29 feet 37.1% Lake Austin 492.9 feet 492.09 feet 95.4% Figure Caption: USGS 7 day streamflows for Texas, valid May 2, 2024 Table caption: TWDB Reservoir conditions as of May 1, 2024 Portions of the lower Colorado, San Antonio, and Blanco basins have normal flows The remainder of river basins across the service area fall into either below or much below normal range Medina Lake is now at 2.8 percent capacity, and Canyon Lake has returned to record low elevations Additional data: Edwards Aquifer, Bexar Index Well J-17 as of May 1, 2024: 10 day average: 638.6 Historical Monthly Average: 665.3 Departure from Average: -26.0 Agricultural Impacts Links to the latest Soil Moisture Ranking Percentile and Crop Moisture Index by Division. Soil moistures are near normal across the eastern half of the service area while the western half is experiencing below normal soil moisture Crop moisture index values are near normal across all three climate zones across the service area Fire Hazard Impacts Keetch Byram Drought Index values have dropped below 200 across much of the Hill Country, I-35 corridor, and Coastal Plains Values range between 300 and 600 across the Rio Grande Plains, southern Edwards Plateau, and portions of the Hill Country Normal wildland fire activity is forecast through the month of May Burn bans remain for 9 of our 33 counties as of May 2, 2024. Latest County Burn Ban map available here. Link to Wildfire Potential Outlooks from the National Interagency Coordination Center. Seven Day Precipitation Forecast No rainfall is forecast in south-central TX over the coming week. Rapid Onset Drought Outlook Continued hot temperatures and a lack of rainfall over the next 1-2 weeks will lead to continued Rapid Onset Drought impacts in south-central Texas. Links to the latest Climate Prediction Center 8 to 14 day Temperature Outlook and Precipitation Outlook. Long-Range Outlooks The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage The temperature outlook for the month of May favors above normal temperatures The precipitation outlook shows equal chances for above, below, or near normal chances for the month of May The only exception is a slight lean towards above normal precipitation chances across a small portion of the Hill County and I-35 Corridor Drought Outlook The Drought Outlook shows potential for drought conditions to improve or end for portions of the Hill Country, and I-35 Corridor Drought conditions are forecast to persist across portions of the southern Edwards Plateau and Rio Grande Plains Links to the latest: Climate Prediction Center Monthly Drought Outlook Climate Prediction Center Seasonal Drought Outlook The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage