Drought — Stonewall, Texas

2022-08-01 to 2022-08-30 · Stonewall, Texas

Wider weather episode

The most significant improvement to long term drought conditions for the duration of this drought occurred during the month of August. The greatest improvements were seen over the Rolling Plains and extreme southwestern Texas Panhandle where exceptional drought (D4) was lowered two categories to severe drought (D2). Improvements elsewhere included a reduction to extreme drought (D3) over the southern South Plains and moderate drought (D1) across the northwest South Plains.

This improvement was fueled by widespread rain showers and thunderstorms during the second half of the month. August began hot and dry similar to conditions earlier in the summer, but August trended cooler and more unsettled with periodic bouts of precipitation with flooding at times. This pattern shift occurred following an early departure of a subtropical ridge that typically resides near West Texas in August. As a result, monsoonal moisture was able to expand east from the desert southwest and combine with occasional weak fronts and disturbances for widespread beneficial rainfall. Rainfall was mostly between 150 and 200 percent of normal with several swaths of 300 percent or more. The improved soil moisture along with increased cloud cover served to keep temperatures near normal for the month following the record breaking heat earlier this summer. Despite the widespread rainfall, negative agricultural impacts continued across the region as a result of long term drought conditions. Fire weather conditions have generally remained low due to relatively light winds and improved moisture. Fuel states significantly improved due to the widespread rainfall during the second half of August.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1044406. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.