The Countdown Continues: 5 Percent of Texas is Now Drought-Free

Map by National Drought Monitor

Most of Dallas/Fort Worth is now officially drought-free.

Congratulations, residents of Dallas/Fort Worth. You are part of the five percent of Texas officially no longer living in drought. (In comparison, a year ago twenty percent of Texas was drought-free.)

The latest National Drought Monitor report was released today, and you can see a large band of white (that’s the drought-free portion of the state) elbowing its way into Texas, taking over most of Dallas and Tarrant Counties.

Dallas/Fort Worth had only their 28th driest year ever, a relatively comfortable position compared to other parts of the state like Amarillo and Lubbock, which had their driest years on record. Places like Midland, Texas, only received five-and-a-half inches of rain the entire year. For most of Texas, it was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year of weather.

Of course, the drought is far from over. But it’s welcome news that millions of people in Texas are living drought-free (for now).