Drought — Wheeler, Texas

2023-04-01 to 2023-04-30 · Wheeler, Texas

Event narrative

Wheeler County started and ended the month in Severe Drought (D2). With the county only receiving 75% to 90% of the normal April rainfall during the month drought classification remained unchanged.

Wider weather episode

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.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1095955. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.