Drought, wildfires, and extreme weather — is this the new normal for Texas?
Last month we debuted our interactive web page on the Texas drought,Ā Dried Out: Confronting the Texas Drought. Now there’s an update to the page, so you can see the latest illustration of how the drought progressed, and how conditions are slowly improving across much of the state. What was once a sea of red (indicating […]
Evening Update: In a late afternoon interview the Texas Forest Service put the amount of land burned by both fires in the Livermore Ranch Complex Fire at over 23,000 acres. Reinforcements have arrived and the smaller of the two fires is now 60 percent contained. The larger fire, which continues to threaten the Davis Mountains […]
The 2012 hurricane season is predicted to be relatively calm in comparison to past years, butĀ meteorologistsĀ are still warning residents in coastal areas to take precautions, according to forecasters from Accuweather. The group said today that there is still a possibility of “home-grown” tropical storms in the Gulf of Mexico. “Fronts coming down during June and […]
The latest drought monitor is out today (which isn’t surprising, it comes out every Thursday) and again, the numbers show improvement. The great drought that began in the fall of 2010 shows continued signs of receding, with over 18 percent of the state now completely drought-free, and a little less than ten percent of the […]
For many Texans, this past winter was a welcome surprise. But the same canāt be said for the far western point of the state, where the drought persists.
Burros, armadillos, bluebonnets, and pecan trees are just a few examples of the diverse flora and fauna that one might come across in Texas. While some of these species have become a source of state pride, others are much less welcome. Over the past few decades, a coterie of invasive species has trespassed into the […]
While the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex was the first major population center in Texas to become drought-free this winter, it looks like they’re preparing for more droughts like the one that has baked the state over the last year and half. This week a coalition of four mayors in the region (representing Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth […]
At first people didn’t believe it, but it really is true. A new photo from the National Weather Service shows a local firefighter standing next to a wall of hail some four feet high.
A new interactive map from our friends at the Texas Tribune allows you to see up-to-date levels for major lakes and reservoirs in the state. The map was created by the Tribune’s environmental reporter Kate Galbraith and data reporter Ryan Murphy. Although overall drought conditions have improved in much of the state, our water storage […]
Water became scarce in Texas over the last year. While it’s never been plentiful, during the record drought of 2010-2011 and extreme heat, lakes and reservoirs went dry, water systems failed, and farmers and ranchers lost billions because of lack of rain. In southeast Texas, rice farmers were cut off from water for irrigation for […]
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