It’s official. Last week’s record setting rainfall was finally enough to impact on our drought–at least in the Austin metro area and counties east of IH-35.  Much of the Hill Country remains in the worst drought category–exceptional, and the Highland Lakes have risen little.

Here is the latest Drought Information Statement from the National Weather Service:

DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
THU FEB 2 2012

...ALL OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS...THE HILL COUNTRY AND RIO
GRANDE PLAINS REMAIN IN MODERATE TO EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT
STATUS...

SYNOPSIS...
DROUGHT CONTINUES TO PLAGUE ALL OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS...
BUT RECENT RAINFALL CONTINUES TO ERODE THE SHORT TERM DROUGHT
IMPACTS.

AUSTIN CAMP MABRY...AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL...AND
SAN ANTONIO INTERNATIONAL ALL RECEIVED ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL IN
JANUARY. ONCE AGAIN THIS RAINFALL WAS EXTREMELY BENEFICIAL. THE
HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS THAT FELL ALONG AND JUST EAST OF I-35
CAUSED RUNOFF INTO CREEKS AND STREAMS CAUSING RAPID RISES AND
FLOODING IN SEVERAL AREAS. LAKES AND RESERVOIRS HAVE SHOWN SOME
SMALL INCREASES...BUT NOTHING SIGNIFICANT. THE WESTERN SECTIONS
ALONG THE RIO GRANDE SAW SLIGHTLY LESS THAN AVERAGE RAINFALL IN
JANUARY. FOR US TO SEE MORE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LONG
TERM DROUGHT IMPACTS SUCH AS FILLING LAKES AND RESERVOIRS...MORE
FREQUENT AND WIDESPREAD RAINFALL EVENTS OVER SEVERAL MONTHS WILL
BE NECESSARY.

THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER (CPC) IS FORECASTING THE LA NINA
PATTERN TO WEAKEN AND TRANSITION INTO AN ENSO NEUTRAL PATTERN
BY MAY 2012. EVEN THOUGH THE REGION NORMALLY EXPECTS WARMER
THAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND BELOW AVERAGE RAINFALL IN A LA NINA
PATTERN HISTORY SHOWS THAT ONE OUT OF EVERY FIVE...0R TWENTY PERCENT
OF THE LA NINA EVENTS ACTUALLY SEE NORMAL OR ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL.
THIS IS WHAT THE REGION HAS EXPERIENCED IN DECEMBER 2010 AND JANUARY
2012. WITH AN ENSO NEUTRAL PATTERN EXPECTED BY LATE SPRING WE SHOULD
BEGIN TO SEE A MORE TYPICAL RAINFALL PATTERN.

THE US DROUGHT MONITOR (USDM) VALID JANUARY 31ST AND ISSUED ON
FEBRUARY 2ND...SHOWED ALL OF THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL
TEXAS IN MODERATE (D1) TO EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT (D4) CONDITIONS.
IF ADDITIONAL RAINFALL IS OBSERVED OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS
THEN MORE IMPROVEMENTS COULD BE SEEN ON THE NEXT DROUGHT MONITOR
MAP SCHEDULED TO BE AVAILABLE ON FEBRUARY 9TH.

MODERATE (D1) AND SEVERE DROUGHT (D2) CONDITIONS WERE PRESENT
OVER SOUTHERN VAL VERDE...MAVERICK AND PORTIONS OF DIMMIT AND
ZAVALA COUNTIES. ANOTHER SMALL AREA OF MODERATE (D1) AND SEVERE
DROUGHT (D2) CONDITIONS WERE NOTED OVER NORTHEASTERN LLANO
AND NORTHWESTERN BURNET COUNTIES. PORTIONS OF NORTHERN ATASCOSA...
EASTERN BEXAR...NORTHERN WILSON...GUADALUPE...MOST OF COMAL...
MOST OF HAYS...WESTERN CALDWELL...MOST OF TRAVIS...AND A PORTION
OF WILLIAMSON COUNTIES ARE NOW REDUCED TO SEVERE DROUGHT (D2).

EXTREME DROUGHT (D3) TO EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT (D4) CONDITIONS
PREVAIL ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

MOST OF THE STATE IS CURRENTLY IN MODERATE DROUGHT (D1) TO
EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT (D4). THERE ARE NOW LOCATIONS ACROSS NORTH
CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST TEXAS WHERE DROUGHT IS NO LONGER A PROBLEM.
AS ADDITIONAL RAINFALL IS OBSERVED ACROSS THE STATE THE DROUGHT
SEVERITY WILL CONTINUE TO DECREASE.

SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...

FIRE DANGER IMPACTS...

FIRE DANGER IS CURRENTLY LOW TO MODERATE DUE TO THE RECENT
RAINFALL. AS OF FEBRUARY 2ND...BURN BANS WERE IN EFFECT FOR 14
COUNTIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. THE COUNTIES WITH ESTABLISHED
OUTDOOR BURN BANS INCLUDE BEXAR...DEWITT...DIMMIT...EDWARDS...
FRIO...KARNES...KERR...KINNEY...MAVERICK...MEDINA...REAL...
TRAVIS...UVALDE...VALVERDE AND ZAVALA COUNTIES.

CURRENTLY ATASCOSA...BANDERA...BASTROP...BLANCO...BURNET...
CALDWELL...COMAL...FAYETTE...GILLESPIE...GONZALES...
GUDALUPE...HAYS...KENDALL...LAVACA...LEE...LLANO...
WILLIAMSON AND WILSON COUNTIES HAVE LIFTED THEIR BURN BANS.

RESIDENTS IN ALL COUNTIES SHOULD CONTACT THEIR LOCAL COUNTY
JUDGE`S OFFICE OR FIRE MARSHALL BEFORE DECIDING TO CONDUCT
ANY TYPE OF OUTDOOR BURNING.

THE FEBRUARY 2ND KEETCH-BYRAM DROUGHT INDEX (KBDI) SHOWED KBDI
VALUES RANGED FROM ZERO TO 400 ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION. THE
VALUES OF ZERO TO 400 WERE NOTED ACROSS MOST OF THE HILL
COUNTRY...SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS...THE COASTAL PLAINS AND THE
LOWER RIO GRANDE PLAINS. VALUES OF 500 TO 700 WERE NOTED ACROSS
VAL VERDE...KINNEY AND FRIO COUNTIES.

THE TEXAS FOREST SERVICE USES THE KBDI AS A MEANS FOR RELATING
CURRENT AND RECENT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO POTENTIAL OR EXPECTED
FIRE BEHAVIOR. THE KBDI IS A NUMERICAL INDEX CALCULATED DAILY
FOR EACH COUNTY. EACH NUMBER IS AN ESTIMATE OF THE AMOUNT OF
PRECIPITATION...IN HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH...NEEDED TO BRING THE
SOIL BACK TO SATURATION. THE INDEX RANGES FROM ZERO TO 800...WITH
ZERO REPRESENTING A SATURATED SOIL AND 800 A COMPLETELY DRY SOIL.
REMEMBER...THAT FIRE DANGER CAN CHANGE QUICKLY FROM ONE DAY TO
ANOTHER AS WINDS AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY VARY.

AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS...

THE TEXAS CROP AND WEATHER REPORT ISSUED BY TEXAS
A AND M AGRICULTURAL INDICATED EASTERN COUNTIES RECEIVED FROM 5 TO
7 INCHES OF RAIN...WHILE THE WESTERN PART OF THE DISTRICT REPORTED
0.50 OF AN INCH TO 1.5 INCHES. WHERE THE RAINS WERE HEAVY...SOIL-
MOISTURE LEVELS WERE GREATLY INCREASED AND STOCK PONDS WERE
FILLED. OATS AND WINTER WEEDS GREENED BACK UP. SEVERAL VARIETIES
OF TREES BROKE BUDS.

CLIMATE SUMMARY...

JANUARY WAS THE SECOND WETTER THAN AVERAGE MONTH IN A ROW. THIS
WAS GREAT NEWS IN A WINTER WITH A LA NINA EVENT IN PLACE. HISTORY
DOES SHOW THAT 1 IN 5 OR 20 PERCENT OF THE LA NINA WINTERS DO
ACTUALLY PRODUCE NORMAL OR ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL FOR MOST OF SOUTH
CENTRAL TEXAS. ALONG THE RIO GRANDE AND RIO GRANDE PLAINS RAINFALL
AMOUNTS HAVE BEEN LESS AND THESE LOCATIONS ARE STILL REPORTING
SLIGHTLY DRIER THAN AVERAGE CONDITIONS.

PRECIPITATION FROM JANUARY 1, 2012 TO MIDNIGHT FEBRUARY 1, 2012
AND DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL:

                   2012      NORMAL     DEPARTURE     PERCENT
                 RAINFALL    TO DATE    FROM NORMAL   OF NORMAL

AUSTIN MABRY       4.70       2.29       +2.41         205%
AUSTIN BERGSTROM   7.32       2.30       +5.02         318%
SAN ANTONIO        4.00       1.83       +2.17         219%
DEL RIO            0.50       0.75       -0.25          67%

THROUGH MIDNIGHT JANUARY 31ST...DEL RIO RECEIVED 0.50 OF
AN INCH OF RAINFALL. THIS WAS 0.22 OF AN INCH BELOW THE NORMAL
OF 0.72 OF AN INCH. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR JANUARY WAS
54.1 DEGREES. THIS WAS 1.9 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF
52.2 DEGREES.

THROUGH MIDNIGHT JANUARY 31ST...SAN ANTONIO INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT RECEIVED 3.99 INCHES OF RAIN. THIS WAS 2.23 INCHES
ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 1.76 INCHES. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT
THE SAN ANTONIO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FOR JANUARY WAS 56.2
DEGREES. THIS WAS 4.4 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 51.8
DEGREES.

THROUGH MIDNIGHT JANUARY 31ST...AUSTIN MABRY RECEIVED 4.70
INCHES OF RAIN. THIS WAS 2.48 INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 2.22
INCHES. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR JANUARY AT AUSTIN MABRY
WAS 55.1 DEGREES. THIS WAS 3.6 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF
51.5 DEGREES.

THROUGH MIDNIGHT JANUARY 31ST...AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT RECEIVED 7.30 INCHES OF RAIN. THIS WAS 5.07 INCHES
ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 2.23 INCHES. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE
FOR JANUARY AT THE AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
WAS 52.2 DEGREES. THIS WAS 3.0 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF
49.2 DEGREES.

PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...

DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS...A WETTER AND COOLER PATTERN IS
EXPECTED TO REPLACE THE WARMER PATTERN THAT WE HAVE SEEN FOR THE
LAST SEVERAL DAYS. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN NEAR OR
SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.

THE LATEST CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER (CPC) 8 TO 14 DAY OUTLOOK
ISSUED ON FEBRUARY 1ST AND VALID FEBRUARY 9TH THROUGH FEBRUARY
15TH 2012 IS TRENDING TOWARDS BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND ABOVE
NORMAL RAINFALL.

THE LONGER RANGE OUTLOOK FOR MARCH 2012 THROUGH MAY 2012...
CREATED ON JANUARY 19TH IS TRENDING TOWARDS ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AND BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL. THESE OUTLOOKS WILL
BE UPDATED ON FEBRUARY 16TH.

HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...

DUE TO THE LACK OF SOIL MOISTURE AND RAINFALL NOT FALLING IN THE
UPSTREAM WATERSHEDS MANY LAKES AND RESERVOIRS HAVE SEEN LITTLE OR
NO INCREASE DESPITE THE ABOVE NORMAL JANUARY RAINFALL. MOST OF THE
RIVERS...CREEKS AND STREAMS CONTINUE TO SEE VERY LOW FLOWS AND THE
WATER IS NOT RUNNING OFF TO HELP REPLENISH THE LEVELS IN THE LAKES
AND RESERVOIRS.

THE MAIN DROUGHT CONCERNS ARE CURRENTLY LONG TERM HYDROLOGIC
IMPACTS ACROSS THE REGION. MOST STOCK TANKS ACROSS THE EASTERN
HALF OF THE REGION HAVE FILLED OR HAVE COME CLOSE TO FILLING.
WESTERN AREAS HAVE SEEN LESS RAINFALL SO STOCK TANKS REMAIN LOW
OR DRY. IF THE WETTER THAN AVERAGE CONDITIONS WERE TO CONTINUE...
THEN THE LONG TERM HYDROLOGIC IMPACTS WILL BEGIN TO LESSEN.

THE 7 DAY STREAM FLOW AVERAGE IS IN THE 25 TO 75 PERCENT
(NORMAL) RANGE TO LESS THAN 10 PERCENT (MUCH BELOW) FOR
BASINS ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE RIO GRANDE PLAINS.

RESERVOIR CONDITIONS AS OF FEBRUARY 2ND...

AREA LAKES...RIVERS AND RESERVOIRS REMAIN WELL BELOW NORMAL
POOL ELEVATIONS. MOST LEVELS CONTINUE TO FALL OR REMAIN STEADY
EVEN WITH THE RECENT RAINFALL. A FEW LOCATIONS HAVE SEEN SMALL
INCREASES.

BELOW IS A LIST OF RESERVOIRS WITH THE LATEST ELEVATIONS AND
NORMAL POOLS.

                NORMAL POOL    LATEST ELEVATION    DIFFERENCE
                    (FT)             (FT)             (FT)
MEDINA LAKE        1064.2           1011.64           -52.6
CANYON LAKE         909              899.15            -9.9
LAKE TRAVIS         681              626.92           -54.1
LAKE BUCHANAN      1020              989.94           -30.1
LAKE GEORGETOWN     791              774.51           -16.5
LAKE AMISTAD       1117             1103.44           -13.6

RESTRICTIONS...

THE SAN ANTONIO WATER SYSTEM (SAWS) IS CURRENTLY IN STAGE
1 WATER RESTRICTIONS. THE MANDATORY RESTRICTIONS AND
THE MORE FREQUENT RAIN EVENTS HAVE HELPED TO KEEP THE
EDWARDS AQUIFER LEVEL FROM FALLING BELOW 650 FEET.

THE EDWARDS AQUIFER IS CURRENTLY READING 657.9 FEET AS OF
FEBRUARY 2ND. THIS IS 12.0 FEET BELOW THE HISTORICAL MONTHLY
AVERAGE FOR FEBRUARY WHICH IS 669.9 FEET. THE AQUIFER LEVEL
IS 13.2 FEET BELOW THE LEVEL OBSERVED ON THIS DATE IN
FEBRUARY 2011.

ONCE NEW RESTRICTIONS ARE IN PLACE THEY WILL REMAIN IN PLACE
FOR 30 DAYS AFTER RISING ABOVE THE TRIGGER LEVEL. AFTER 30
DAYS...IF THE AQUIFER LEVEL REMAINS ABOVE THE TRIGGER LEVEL
THEN RESTRICTIONS WILL BE UPDATED.

MANY COMMUNITIES ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS HAVE RECENTLY
DROPPED BACK ON THE STAGES OF WATER RESTRICTIONS DUE TO LESS
USE AND MORE FREQUENT RAINFALL. THE STRICTER RESTRICTIONS
COULD BE IMPLEMENTED AT ANY TIME IF THE DRIER THAN NORMAL
CONDITIONS PREVAIL.

THE BARTON SPRINGS REMAIN IN CRITICAL STAGE 3 WITH A TEN DAY
AVERAGE FLOW OF 30+ CUBIC FEET PER MINUTE. THE FLOW RATES
REMAIN VERY LOW DESPITE ABOVE-AVERAGE RAINFALL IN DECEMBER
2011 AND JANUARY 2012. THE RAINS HAVE PROVIDED SOME
RECHARGE...BUT THE BENEFITS WILL BE TEMPORARY UNLESS
SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL IS OBSERVED OVER THE NEXT 6 MONTHS.

AUSTIN REMAINS IN STAGE 2 WATER RESTRICTIONS...SAN MARCOS
IS IN STAGE 1 WATER RESTRICTIONS AND THE CITY OF
KERRVILLE IS NOW IN STAGE 3 WATER RESTRICTIONS.

LOCATIONS THAT DO NOT CURRENTLY HAVE MANDATORY RESTRICTIONS
CONTINUE TO STRONGLY PROMOTE YEAR ROUND WATER CONSERVATION.

NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...

THIS STATEMENT WILL BE UPDATED AROUND FEBRUARY 16, 2012 OR
SOONER IF NECESSARY.

&&

RELATED WEB SITES...

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE DROUGHT IMPACTING SOUTH CENTRAL
TEXAS...PLEASE VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES.
(ADDRESSES SHOULD BE IN ALL LOWER CASE)

AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE:

HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/AUSTIN

NOAA DROUGHT INFORMATION CENTER:

HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.NOAA.GOV

CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER:

HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV

U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR:

HTTP://DROUGHTMONITOR.UNL.EDU/

OFFICE OF THE TEXAS STATE CLIMATOLOGIST:

HTTP://WWW.MET.TAMU.EDU/OSC/

UNITED STATES GEOLOGIC SURVEY (USGS):

HTTP://WATER.USGS.GOV/

UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS (USACE):

HTTP://WWW.SWF.USACE.ARMY.MIL/

INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION:

HTTP://WWW.IBWC.STATE.GOV

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...

THE DROUGHT MONITOR IS A MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT INVOLVING NOAA/S
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER...THE
USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER CLIMATOLOGIST AND THE NATIONAL
DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT HAS
BEEN GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...STATE
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICES...THE USACE AND USGS.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUND THIS DROUGHT
INFORMATION STATEMENT...PLEASE CONTACT...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
2090 AIRPORT ROAD
NEW BRAUNFELS TEXAS  78130
830-606-3617