Drought in Roberts, Texas

Roberts County started the month of April with the northwestern third of the county in Extreme Drought (D3), while the southeasthern two thirds saw Severe Drought (D2) conditions. By mid month, the continuation of dry and warm conditions plunged the entire county into D3 where the whole of the county ended the month. The county only received 50% to 90% of the monthly April normal rainfall.

Long term drought conditions contributed to concerns for wildfires and dust storms during the April winds and low relative humidity during the month. A total of 8,471 acres were burned across portions of Potter and Carson County in the Texas Panhandle early on in April. The fire that was in Potter County caused several residential areas north of Amarillo to be evacuated by the Potter County Office of Emergency Management due to erratic fire behavior along the Canadian River Valley terrain.

Per farmers and ranchers, soil moisture was reported to be short to very short. Dryland winter wheat was not harvestable during the month. Cow/calf producers were feeding more on rangelands, but in several counties the cow/calf pairs were going to market due to lack of forage availability.