Weekely Drought Update: With Record Heat, Drought Creeps Back

US Drought Monitor Map

Good news: No exceptional drought. Bad news: Seven percent more of the state in drought conditions.

Last week, Texas hit a milestone in its recovery from drought: no portion of the state was any longer in the worst “exceptional” stage of drought.  

The news this week is not quite as good. The drought has returned to some previously drought-free parts of Texas.

A greater amount of the state – seven percent, – has been added to the area experiencing drought since last week’s release of the US Drought Monitor Map.

That shouldn’t come as  a surprise. Meteorologists foresaw a lack of summer precipitation. And, as we reported last week, we’re not likely to receive immediate relief any time soon. But a projected El Niño weather pattern arriving by late summer should help the state’s prospects.

In the meantime, the advice our mother gave to us before going outside in the summer couldn’t be more fitting: “hydrate, hydrate, hydrate”. If only the state could do the same.