Drought Information Statement for South Central Texas Valid June 6, 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. Some drought improvement seen over the northeastern portion of the service area while drought conditions worsen across the west Reservoir levels in the Hill County and along the Rio Grande remain very low Monthly outlooks show hot temperatures with only slight chance for above normal rainfall for a portion of the service area for June 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: 10.71% D2 (Severe Drought): Extends across the portions of the Hill Country, Rio Grande Plains, and I-35 corridor Percent of Area: 27.22% No Drought or D0 (Abnormally Dry): Extends across the portions of Rio Grande Plains, and Coastal Plains Percent of Area: 41.19% 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, and Rio Grande Plains No Change: Portions of the southern Edwards Plateau, I-35 Corridor, Rio Grande Plains, and Hill Country Drought Improved: Portions of the Hill Country, and I-35 corridor 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 Locations in the Hill Country, I-35 corridor, and isolated spots in the Coastal Plains saw near and 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 Recent rainfall helped to improve streamflows over portions of the Colorado, Pedernales, Llano, and San Gabriel basins (USGS) Below to much below average streamflows have persisted across the Guadalupe, Medina, Frio, Nueces, and Rio Grande basins (USGS) Medina Lake is now at 2.5 percent capacity, and Canyon Lake is less than a quarter of a foot from setting new 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 moisture is near normal across much of the service area while portions of the Rio Grande Plains and southern Edwards Plateau are experiencing below normal soil moisture (NWS Climate Prediction Center) Fire Hazard Impacts Normal wildland fire activity is forecast through the month of June (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 3 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 1049.30 feet 26.6% Medina Lake 1064.2 feet 971.43 feet 2.5% Canyon Lake 909.00 feet 885.81 feet 57.5% Granger Lake 504.00 feet 506.07 feet 100% Georgetown Lake 791.00 feet 788.46 feet 91.5% Lake Buchanan 1020.00 feet 1009.43 feet 78.2% Lake LBJ 825.00 feet 824.72 feet 98.4% Lake Marble Falls 738.00 feet 736.41 feet 95.3% Lake Travis 681.00 feet 634.89 feet 41.1% Lake Austin 492.9 feet 492.17 feet 95.9% Figure Caption: USGS 7 day streamflows for Texas, valid June 6, 2024 Table caption: TWDB Reservoir conditions as of June 6, 2024 Recent rainfall helped to improve streamflows over portions of the Colorado, Pedernales, Llano, and San Gabriel basins Below to much below average streamflows have persisted across the Guadalupe, Medina, Frio, Nueces, and Rio Grande basins Medina Lake is now at 2.5 percent capacity, and Canyon Lake is less than a quarter of a foot from setting new record low elevations Additional data: Edwards Aquifer, Bexar Index Well J-17 as of June 6, 2024: 10 day average: 630.4 Historical Monthly Average: 662.3 Departure from Average: -33.9 Agricultural Impacts Links to the latest Soil Moisture Ranking Percentile and Crop Moisture Index by Division. Soil moisture is near normal across much of the service area while portions of the Rio Grande Plains and southern Edwards Plateau are experiencing below normal soil moisture Crop moisture index values range from near normal for the northeastern most climate region to excessively dry across the western most climate zone in the service area Fire Hazard Impacts Keetch Byram Drought Index values remain at or below 200 across portions of the the Hill Country, and I-35 corridor Values range between 600 and 700 across the Rio Grande Plains, southern Edwards Plateau, and portions of the Hill Country and I-35 corridor Normal wildland fire activity is forecast through the month of June Burn bans remain for 9 of our 33 counties as of June 6, 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 June shows strong chances for above normal temperatures The precipitation outlook shows equal chances for above, below, or near normal chances for the month of June across the southern Edwards Plateau, Rio Grande Plains, portions of the Hill Country, and Coastal Plains The precipitation outlook shows a slight lean towards above normal precipitation chances for portions of the Hill County, I-35 Corridor, and Coastal Plains Drought Outlook Drought conditions are forecast to persist across portions of the southern Edwards Plateau and Rio Grande Plains through the month of June The three month outlook shows portions of the Coastal Plains to develop drought through August 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