Drought in Dallam, Texas

Moderate Drought (D1) conditions persisted in the NW TX Panhandle until the third week of March. At that point, the drought intensified, with Dallam, Hartley, Sherman, and Moore Counties all escalating to Severe Drought (D2). This transition was marked by an additional 1 to 2 being added to the existing 120-day precipitation deficit. Furthermore, the severity of the drought's impact on winter crops was worsened by record monthly maximum temperatures recorded during the month.

Very isolated rain events brought some moisture to the eastern Panhandles during the month. However, this did not put a dent in the 120 departure from normal with values staying 2 to 4 below normal. Mites were appearing on stressed winter wheat crop and wildfires became an increasing concern across the combined Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles.