Drought Information Statement for South Central Texas Valid September 5, 2024 Issued By: NWS Austin/San Antonio Contact Information: sr-ewx.webmaster@noaa.gov This product will be updated October 3, 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 much needed rain occurred over the western part of the service area to provide improvement of drought conditions Reservoir levels across the service area saw some improvement while overall water storage remains low Monthly outlooks show potential for additional improvement of drought conditions through the month of September 1 U.S. Drought Monitor Drought intensity and Extent D3 (Extreme Drought): Covers portions of the Hill Country Percent of Area: 1.70% D2 (Severe Drought): Extends across the portions of the Hill Country Percent of Area: 7.04% No Drought or D0 (Abnormally Dry): Encompasses the Coastal Plains, and portions of the Hill Country, Southern Edwards Plateau, I-35 corridor, and Rio Grande Plains Percent of Area: 67.92% 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: primarily over Williamson County saw drought conditions worsen No Change: portions of the I-35 corridor, Hill Country, and southern Edwards Plateau, and Rio Grande Plains Drought Improved: Much of the Rio Grande plains, and southern Edwards Plateau saw improvement over the last 30 days. Precipitation Links to the latest Precipitation Accumulation and Percent of Normal over the past 30 days The service area divided into roughly three zones of rainfall for the past 30 days. Well below normal rainfall was seen over portions of the I-35 corridor, Coastal Plains, and Winter Garden with decent swaths of less than 25% of normal Portions of the Hill Country, I-35 corridor, and Coastal Plains saw slightly below to near normal rainfall And a late August/early September deluge brought portions of the Rio Grande Plains, southern Edwards Plateau into near to well above normal percentages Temperature Summarize conditions/impacts here Summary of Impacts Links: See/submit Condition Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR) and view the Drought Impacts Reporter Hydrologic Impacts The majority of watersheds across the service area fall within either the normal to above normal percentile classification given the late August/early September rainfall (USGS) However, the Frio River, and portions of the Guadalupe River and lower Colorado river basins remain in the below to much below percentile classifications.(USGS) 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 normal range (NWS Climate Prediction Center) Fire Hazard Impacts Normal wildland fire activity is forecast through the month of September (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 9/5/2024) 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 Georgetown: 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 1049.68 feet 25.7% Medina Lake 1064.2 feet 974.78 feet 3.3% Canyon Lake 909.00 feet 884.72 feet 55.9% Granger Lake 504.00 feet 504.49 feet 100% Georgetown Lake 791.00 feet 782.96 feet 74.6% Lake Buchanan 1020.00 feet 1005.39 feet 69.0% Lake LBJ 825.00 feet 824.63 feet 97.9% Lake Marble Falls 738.00 feet 736.38 feet 95.1% Lake Travis 681.00 feet 642.64 feet 48.4% Lake Austin 492.9 feet 492.16 feet 95.8% Figure Caption: USGS 7 day streamflows for Texas, valid September 4, 2024 Table caption: TWDB Reservoir conditions as of September 5, 2024 The majority of watersheds across the service area fall within either the normal to above normal percentile classification given the late August/early September rainfall However, the Frio River, and portions of the Guadalupe River and lower Colorado river basins remain in the below to much below percentile classifications. Additional data: Edwards Aquifer, Bexar Index Well J-17 as of September 5, 2024: 10 day average: 630 Historical Monthly Average: 659.9 Departure from Average: -27.1 Agricultural Impacts Links to the latest Soil Moisture Ranking Percentile and Crop Moisture Index by Division. Soil moistures across the service area are shown in the normal range Crop moisture index values show excessively dry conditions across all of the climate zones within our service area Fire Hazard Impacts Keetch Byram Drought Index values of 0 to 300 range across the southern Edwards Plateau, Rio Grande Plains, and portions of the Hill Country Values range between 500 and 600 across the I-35 corridor Normal wildland fire activity is forecast through the month of September Burn bans remain for 18 of our 33 counties as of September 4, 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 September leans towards above normal for much of the service area The precipitation outlook leans towards above normal rainfall for all of the service area Chances are higher for portions of the Rio Grande and southern Edwards Plateau Drought Outlook The monthly drought outlook for September shows chances of drought improvement or ended for portions of the I-35 corridor, Rio Grande Plains, Hill Country, and southern Edwards Plateau The three month outlook mirrors the monthly outlook showing drought improvement through November 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