An Interactive Look at the Texas Drought

Background

Just how much damage has the record single-year drought done to Texas? For the first time, you can see an interactive map and several visualizations that show just how severe the drought has been. On our new interactive web app, ‘Dried Out: Confronting the Texas Drought,’ you can see the intensity of the worst single-year drought in Texas’ history; learn more about the hard choices the state has to make; see the drought’s progression and its impact on the state; explore the pros and cons of the policy decisions that need to be made and share your stories.

See for yourself at our new interactive webpage, Dried Out: Confronting the Texas Drought.

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February 2, 2015

NASA Satellite Will Improve Drought Forcasting With a Little Help From Texas

A satellite launched by NASA over the weekend could help people around the world tackle the challenges of drought. Researchers at the University of Texas will play a part in that mission that could also help forecast flooding and allow officials to better manage reservoir water supplies. The SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) satellite that launched […]

May 26, 2014

Drought Possible Culprit in Massive Fish Kill on Gulf Coast

Researchers suspect drought is the cause of a massive fish die off in the Galveston Bay where millions of shad, also known as skipjack, have washed ashore there in recent days. They’ve been found primarily around the communities of Kemah and Seabrook. “We’ve never seen one to this scale in this location,” Texas Parks and […]

May 16, 2014

West Texas Seeing ‘Driest Such Period in Over a Century’

Conditions ‘Remain Dire,’ Outlook Says The drought that began in October 2010 has been the driest such period in over a century for much of West Texas, putting it on par with the drought of record in the 1950s. That’s according to a new outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and it […]

March 24, 2014

What Drought, Cattle and Crimea Have to Do With Texas Cotton Farming

Every year Texas farmers are faced with a choice: should they focus on growing corn, cotton, or sorghum? Gaylon Morgan has an inkling what kind of year 2014 will be. “I think we’ll see an increase in cotton, just due to the price difference,” Morgan, a cotton specialist at Texas A&M, tells StateImpact Texas. It’s simple economics. The […]

February 13, 2014

Could 2014 Be a Drought-Buster for Texas?

In Spanish, El Niño means “the boy child.” But if El Niño predictions for late 2014 prove correct, winter rainfall in Texas could be anything but little. The deceptively-named weather pattern generally brings rain to Texas. Lots of it. El Niño occurs when warm water buried below the surface of the Pacific rises up and […]

May 24, 2013

This Week in Drought: The Biggest Losers

While the overall percentage of the state suffering from drought did not increase from last week, six percent of Texas, mostly in the Panhandle, sunk deeper into it. The U.S. Drought Monitor maps show exceptional drought spreading in North and West Texas in the past week, with less severe drought levels decreasing in other parts […]

May 17, 2013

While Drought Improves for Some, Many Texas Reservoirs Fall to New Lows

Statewide reservoir levels are at their lowest point ever for this time of year, according to National Weather Service Southern Region climate program manager Victor Murphy. Murphy says many reservoir levels have not changed much since November, which is when reservoirs are typically at their lowest. “Quite honestly we should be higher,” Murphy says. “We […]

May 9, 2013

Statewide Drought Worsens

More than two percent of Texas worsened to exceptional drought from last week. The U.S. Drought Monitor maps released today show more of the panhandle in the most serious drought category. Last week, just over 10 percent of the state was considered to be in exceptional drought- now it’s pushing 13 percent. The second most […]

April 25, 2013

2013 Brings Bad Spring for Some Texas Farmers

Recent rains helped pull more of the state out of drought- but 92 percent of Texas is still experiencing at least a moderate drought and in some of the state drought has worsened. The U.S. Drought Monitor maps released Thursday morning show a slight decrease from last week in the percent of the state facing […]

April 11, 2013

Hurricanes May Be Needed to Help Pull Texas Out of Drought

http://youtu.be/OWBX3QesGnQ Some parts of the state may find themselves in the strange position of actually needing hurricanes this summer. Victor Murphy, climate program manager at National Weather Service Southern Region, says tropical storm landfall could be the best hope to get rain to parts of Texas that desperately need it. Even though much of the state experienced […]