Drought — Edwards, Texas

2023-03-01 to 2023-03-31 · Edwards, Texas

Event narrative

Nearly all of South Central Texas saw below normal precipitation in March and the drought worsened in 17 counties. Bandera, Bexar, Gillespie, Hays, Kerr, and Medina Counties went from Extreme (D3) drought to Exceptional (D4). Dimmit and Guadalupe went from Severe (D2) drought to D3. Atascosa, Edwards, Fayette, Gonzales, Maverick, Travis, Val Verde, Williamson, and Wilson went into D2. All other counties remained unchanged with Blanco, Comal, and Kendall staying in D4, Burnet, Llano, Real, and Uvalde staying in D3, and Kinney and Zavala still in D2. Of the counties in D2 or worse drought Bandera, Bexar, Dimmit, Kendall, Kerr, Maverick, Val Verde, and Zavala Counties had outdoor burn bans in effect at the end of the month. The 7-day average streamflow at the end of the month was much below normal (<10%) on the upper Frio River, much below normal on the Medina River, below normal (10%-24%) on the Nueces River, below normal on the San Antonio River, much below normal on the Guadalupe River, and much below normal on the upper Colorado River. The Edwards Aquifer was down to 31.4 feet below average. Area reservoirs were below normal conservation pool elevation. Medina Lake dropped 1.1 feet to 82.7 feet below normal. Canyon Lake dropped 0.8 feet to 12.0 feet below normal. Lake Travis dropped 1.1 feet to 42.6 feet below normal. Lake Amistad rose 6.1 feet, but was still 42.9 feet below normal. Most public water systems encouraged at least voluntary water restrictions and many had mandatory restrictions in effect. Some of the larger services had the following: New Braunfels Stage 1, San Antonio Stage 2, Austin Stage 1, and Kerrville Stage 1.

Wider weather episode

Nearly all of South Central Texas saw below normal precipitation in March and the drought worsened in 17 counties. Bandera, Bexar, Gillespie, Hays, Kerr, and Medina Counties went from Extreme (D3) drought to Exceptional (D4). Dimmit and Guadalupe went from Severe (D2) drought to D3. Atascosa, Edwards, Fayette, Gonzales, Maverick, Travis, Val Verde, Williamson, and Wilson went into D2. All other counties remained unchanged with Blanco, Comal, and Kendall staying in D4, Burnet, Llano, Real, and Uvalde staying in D3, and Frio, Kinney, and Zavala still in D2. Of the counties in D2 or worse drought Bandera, Bexar, Dimmit, Kendall, Kerr, Maverick, Val Verde, and Zavala Counties had outdoor burn bans in effect at the end of the month. The 7-day average streamflow at the end of the month was much below normal (<10%) on the upper Frio River, much below normal on the Medina River, below normal (10%-24%) on the Nueces River, below normal on the San Antonio River, much below normal on the Guadalupe River, and much below normal on the upper Colorado River. The Edwards Aquifer was down to 31.4 feet below average. Area reservoirs were below normal conservation pool elevation. Medina Lake dropped 1.1 feet to 82.7 feet below normal. Canyon Lake dropped 0.8 feet to 12.0 feet below normal. Lake Travis dropped 1.1 feet to 42.6 feet below normal. Lake Amistad rose 6.1 feet, but was still 42.9 feet below normal. Most public water systems encouraged at least voluntary water restrictions and many had mandatory restrictions in effect. Some of the larger services had the following: New Braunfels Stage 1, San Antonio Stage 2, Austin Stage 1, and Kerrville Stage 1.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1086899. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.