New year-end data and maps from the government show what a year 2011 was for heat and drought in Texas. Records were broken across the state, as extreme weather reached levels never seen before. First, Texas was truly a red state last year, winning the distinction of being the driest state in the nation. States […]
The Texas Senate Business and Commerce committee heard testimony from state agencies, scientists, environmental groups and others Tuesday about how an extended drought might affect the state’s power grid. There was talk of cloud seeding, demand response, and even input from the ambassador to Australia on how to best generate power during a drought. The meeting […]
We’ve posted so many maps of the drought over the past few months here at StateImpact Texas. The drought across the state, the drought compared to the rest of the world, even the drought as seen from space. So we’re happy today to share a map of a different color. Here’s the rainfall in Texas […]
While we’ve taken to calling it the Texas drought, it’s important to remember that the drought knows no borders. In Mexico, some 600,000 households “suffered property damage or crop losses due to an unusual combination of floods, drought and freezing weather in 2011,” according to the Associated Press. The agency spoke with Heriberto Felix Guerra, Mexico’s social […]
Rain is falling across the city and its suburbs today, and over six inches have fallen in some areas since midnight. Here are some of the best reports from the scene via Twitter:
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Government forecasters today reported that the drought will not be over before Spring. La Niña, the dry weather pattern that has been in part responsible for the drought this past year, is going to stick around a little longer, say scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration […]
Texas just capped a year drier than a week-old kolache, with record heat and rainfall totals a good foot or more below where they should have been. Some towns have actually come close to running out of water. And while above-average December rains helped much of the state, they didn’t do enough to restore water […]
If you are one of the thousands of people in dozens of counties in Texas affected by the Labor Day wildfires last year, time is short to register for disaster relief assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The deadline is Friday. “We urge Texans who sustained any damage or property loss to register with […]
You might recall the town of Groesbeck, a small community of just over 4,300 residents east of Waco. Like many small towns in Texas this year, Groesbeck has been struggling with how to supply its residents with water in the midst of record-breaking heat and drought. The town gets all of its water from the […]
If you’re a resident of San Antonio, you have a little more time to water your lawn starting tomorrow. The San Antonio Water System announced today that the city will be moving to Stage 1 watering restrictions. It had been in Stage 2 since May 31. The change doesn’t amount to much, as residents are still […]
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives.
Learn More »