Posted: Fri, 8 Nov 2013 09:12 AM - 24,241 Readers

By: Water News of Texas:

US Drought Monitor Report‘s that During the past week, torrential rains soaked the eastern-third of Texas.  The highest accumulations were observed in East Texas, and South Central Texas.  Heavy rains inundated soils in South Central Texas leading to flash flooding across the region, but provided much needed water to local reservoir systems. According to the Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin (USDA/NOAA), the official observation site in Austin, Texas had the wettest October on record with 13.28 inches.

In areas affected by the precipitation event, widespread one and two-category improvements were made in areas of Abnormally Dry (D0), Moderate Drought (D1), and Severe Drought (D2) with a large portion of East Texas returning to normal conditions.

In the Big Bend region, light rains led to one-category improvements in areas of Abnormally Dry (D0), Moderate Drought (D1), and Severe Drought (D2).

In the Panhandle and north-central Texas, persistent dry conditions led to slight expansion of areas of Moderate Drought (D1), Severe Drought (D2), Extreme Drought (D3), and Exceptional Drought (D4).

The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Map courtesy of NDMC-UNL.