Water + Weather for November 2024

Transcript

Dr. Mark Wentzel - Hydrologist, Texas Water Development Board

Hi everyone, and welcome to the Texas Water Development Board's latest Water and Weather report. I'm Dr. Mark Wentzel, a hydrologist in the Surface Water Division here at the agency. And today, we'll be taking a look at conditions for our state at the end of November.

Let's take a look at some of the big water and weather headlines. Statewide, November 2024 was wetter and warmer than normal, a welcome relief from October's record-setting heat and near-record-setting dryness. At the end of November, 50 percent of the state was in drought, down 24 percentage points since late October. At the end of the month, storage in our water supply reservoirs was almost 72 percent of capacity, four percentage points better than last year but about eight percentage points below normal for this time of year. In the next few months, drought conditions for our state are expected to remain stable without significant expansion or contraction.

Let's take a closer look at temperature and precipitation. On these maps, we're looking at both parameters relative to what is considered normal for November. From a water supply perspective, reds, oranges, and yellows mean trouble on both maps. They show areas with above-average temperature on the left and below-average precipitation on the right. Averaged across the state, November's temperature was warmer than normal, and precipitation was greater than normal, but conditions varied widely. Temperatures along the coast were much warmer than normal, and large areas of the southern half of the state were drier than normal. Still, November was a welcome relief from October's statewide record-setting heat and near-record-setting dryness. November's more moderate temperature and precipitation helped improve drought conditions in the state. From late October to late November, drought contracted 24 percentage points and covered about half the state at the end of that period. That's the largest four-week decrease in drought in the last year.

Our statewide surface water supplies also benefited from November's more moderate conditions. The dark line on this chart shows how storage in our water supply reservoirs this year compares to minimum, maximum, and median values for the day of the year from data going back to 1990. Also displayed are lighter lines that show how we did in 2023 and 2022 and a red line that shows how we did in 2011. Statewide surface water supplies ended November at nearly 72 percent of capacity, up more than a percentage point from the end of October. That was the first monthly increase since June and leaves us about four percentage points ahead of last year's storage but still eight percentage points lower than normal for this time of year.

What can we expect over the next few months? Pretty much what we have right now. Through the end of February 2025, the National Weather Service expects neither expansion nor contraction of drought in Texas. That's not too unusual, considering that our drought conditions tend to change relatively slowly during the winter months. That concludes our report. Until next time, I hope you all stay healthy and safe.