For the second week in a row, our drought situation has worsened. We’re behind more than four inches of rain for the month at Camp Mabry. Only 0.06″ of rain has fallen in Austin.

Extreme drought has returned in northern Williamson County. Severe drought covers Travis County, including the City of Austin.

DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
108 PM CDT THU JUN 28 2012

...SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS...THE HILL COUNTRY AND RIO GRANDE
PLAINS REMAIN IN ABNORMALLY DRY TO SEVERE DROUGHT STATUS...

SYNOPSIS...
ON AVERAGE JUNE IS THE WETTEST MONTH OF THE YEAR...BUT JUNE 2012
HAS BEEN VERY DRY. SPOTTY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN
OBSERVED ACROSS THE REGION DURING THE LAST WEEK IN ASSOCIATION
WITH UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES THAT HAVE MOVED INLAND FROM THE GULF
OF MEXICO. LONG RANGE OUTLOOKS ARE CURRENTLY TRENDING TOWARDS NEAR
NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL MONTHS.

THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER (CPC) IS CALLING FOR AN ENSO (EL
NINO SOUTHERN OSCILLATION) NEUTRAL PATTERN FROM NOW INTO LATE
SUMMER. A WEAK EL NINO IS FORECAST TO BEGIN TO DEVELOP BY LATE
SUMMER AND CONTINUE INTO THE FALL AND WINTER. WITH AN ENSO
NEUTRAL PATTERN EXPECTED WE SHOULD CONTINUE TO SEE A MORE TYPICAL
RAINFALL PATTERN.

THE US DROUGHT MONITOR (USDM) VALID JUNE 26TH AND ISSUED ON JUNE
28TH SHOWED DROUGHT CONDITIONS HAVE GOTTEN WORSE DUE TO THE LACK
OF RAINFALL. THE REGION IS CURRENTLY IN MODERATE (D1) TO EXTREME
(D3) DROUGHT STATUS. LOCATIONS ALONG AND TO THE WEST OF I-35 ARE
NOW IN SEVERE (D2) DROUGHT STATUS. MOST OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY IS
NOW BACK INTO EXTREME (D3) DROUGHT STATUS. WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT
RAINFALL...DROUGHT CONDITIONS WILL GET WORSE.

CURRENTLY 73 PERCENT OF THE STATE IS IN MODERATE DROUGHT (D1)
TO EXTREME DROUGHT (D3). CURRENTLY NONE OF THE STATE IS IN
EXCEPTIONAL (D4) DROUGHT STATUS.

SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...

FIRE DANGER IMPACTS...

FIRE DANGER IS CURRENTLY MODERATE TO HIGH. AS OF JUNE 28TH...BURN
BANS WERE IN EFFECT FOR 11 COUNTIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. THE
COUNTIES WITH ESTABLISHED OUTDOOR BURN BANS INCLUDE DIMMIT...
EDWARDS...FRIO...KARNES...KINNEY...LLANO...MAVERICK...MEDINA...
UVALDE...VAL VERDE AND ZAVALA COUNTIES.

CURRENTLY ATASCOSA...BANDERA...BASTROP...BEXAR...BLANCO...
BURNET...CALDWELL...COMAL...DEWITT...FAYETTE...GILLESPIE...
GONZALES...GUADALUPE...HAYS...KENDALL...KERR...LAVACA...
LEE...REAL...TRAVIS...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 JUNE 28TH KEETCH-BYRAM DROUGHT INDEX (KBDI) SHOWED KBDI VALUES
RANGED FROM 300 TO 600 ACROSS THE REGION.

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 ON JUNE 26 INDICATED...A FEW COUNTIES SAW TEMPORARY
DROUGHT RELIEF FOR PASTURES AND FORAGES THANKS TO SCATTERED
SHOWERS...BUT OVERALL CONDITIONS REMAINED VERY DRY. GRASSHOPPER
PRESSURE WAS HIGH. FORBS AND GRASSES WENT DORMANT AND PRODUCED SEED.
EVEN BRUSH WAS SHOWING SIGNS OF HEAT AND WATER STRESS...AND WAS
LOSING COLOR. MANY BRUSH SPECIES WERE PRODUCING SEED. PASTURES
CONTINUED TO DETERIORATE...AND ROW CROPS BEGAN TO SHOW MOISTURE
STRESS. CATTLE RESTOCKING RATES REMAINED LOW. CORN WAS DRYING
DOWN. COTTON BEGAN TO SET BOLLS.

CLIMATE SUMMARY...

JUNE HAS SEEN VERY LITTLE RAINFALL AND WARMER THAN AVERAGE
TEMPERATURES.

PRECIPITATION FROM JANUARY 1, 2012 TO MIDNIGHT JUNE 27, 2012 AND
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL:

                    2012      NORMAL     DEPARTURE     PERCENT
                  RAINFALL    TO DATE    FROM NORMAL   OF NORMAL

AUSTIN MABRY       18.94       17.50       +1.44         108%
AUSTIN BERGSTROM   21.86       15.97       +5.89         137%
SAN ANTONIO        22.85       15.76       +7.09         145%
DEL RIO             8.71        9.37       -0.66          93%

FOR JUNE TO DATE...DEL RIO HAS RECEIVED RECEIVED 0.01 OF AN INCH
OF RAINFALL. THIS IS 2.16 INCHES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 2.17 INCHES.
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR JUNE TO DATE IS 88.3 DEGREES. THIS IS
4.4 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 83.9 DEGREES.

FOR JUNE TO DATE...SAN ANTONIO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HAS RECEIVED
0.11 OF AN INCH OF RAIN. THIS IS 3.68 INCHES BELOW THE NORMAL OF
3.79 INCHES. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT THE SAN ANTONIO INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT FOR JUNE TO DATE IS 84.6 DEGREES. THIS IS 2.3 DEGREES ABOVE
THE NORMAL OF 82.3 DEGREES.

FOR JUNE TO DATE...AUSTIN MABRY HAS RECEIVED 0.06 OF AN INCH OF
RAIN. THIS IS 3.99 INCHES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 4.05 INCHES. THE
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT AUSTIN MABRY FOR JUNE TO DATE IS 85.1
DEGREES. THIS IS 3.1 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 82.0 DEGREES.

FOR JUNE TO DATE...AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HAS
RECEIVED 0.21 OF AN INCH OF RAIN. THIS IS 3.71 INCHES BELOW THE
NORMAL OF 3.92 INCHES. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR JUNE TO DATE
AT THE AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IS 83.2 DEGREES.
THIS IS 2.3 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 80.9 DEGREES.

PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...

FOR THE NEXT WEEK ISOLATED TO SCATTERED RAINFALL IS EXPECTED
WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES.

THE LATEST CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER (CPC) 8 TO 14 DAY OUTLOOK
ISSUED ON JUNE 27TH AND VALID JULY 5TH THROUGH JULY 11TH IS
TRENDING TOWARDS ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND TRENDING TOWARDS
GREATER CHANCES FOR NEAR NORMAL PRECIPITATION.

THE LONGER RANGE OUTLOOK FOR JULY 2012 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2012...
CREATED ON JUNE 21ST IS INDICATING STRONGER TRENDS TOWARDS ABOVE
NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND SLIGHTLY STRONGER TRENDS TOWARDS NEAR
NORMAL RAINFALL. THESE OUTLOOKS WILL BE UPDATED ON JULY 19TH.

HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...

WITH THE LACK OF RAINFALL DURING THE FIRST HALF OF JUNE...COMBINED
WITH HIGH EVAPORATION RATES...HAS CAUSED LAKE AND RESERVOIR LEVELS
TO DECLINE. WITH THE HIGHER SUMMER TEMPERATURES...HIGH EVAPORATION
RATES WILL CAUSE FURTHER DECLINES IN THESE LEVELS.

THE MAIN DROUGHT CONCERNS ARE CURRENTLY SHORT AND LONG TERM HYDROLOGIC
IMPACTS.

THE 7 DAY STREAM FLOW AVERAGES OVER MOST OF THE REGION ARE IN THE
10 TO 24 PERCENT OR BELOW NORMAL RANGE. THE UPPER NUECES BASIN IS
IN THE 25 TO 75 PERCENT OR NORMAL RANGE. THE UPPER GUADALUPE AND
LOWER COLORADO BASINS ARE REPORTING FLOWS LESS THAN 10 PERCENT
OR MUCH BELOW NORMAL.

RESERVOIR CONDITIONS AS OF JUNE 28TH...

AREA LAKES...RIVERS AND RESERVOIRS REMAIN BELOW NORMAL POOL
ELEVATIONS. LEVELS ARE CONTINUING TO FALL AGAIN DUE TO
REDUCED INFLOWS AND HIGH EVAPORATION RATES.

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           1009.4           -54.8
CANYON LAKE         909              903.9            -5.1
LAKE TRAVIS         681              640.6           -40.4
LAKE BUCHANAN      1020              997.5           -22.5
LAKE GEORGETOWN     791              786.7            -4.3
LAKE AMISTAD       1117             1092.0           -25.0

RESTRICTIONS...

THE SAN ANTONIO WATER SYSTEM (SAWS) IS IN STAGE 2 WATER
RESTRICTIONS. ONCE A RESTRICTION IS IN PLACE...THAT RESTRICTION
WILL BE IN EFFECT FOR 30 DAYS NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE
AQUIFER LEVEL.

THE EDWARDS AQUIFER IS CURRENTLY READING 641.2 FEET AS OF JUNE
28TH. THIS IS 21.8 FEET BELOW THE HISTORICAL MONTHLY AVERAGE FOR
JUNE WHICH IS 663.0 FEET. THE AQUIFER LEVEL IS 4.1 FEET BELOW THE
LEVEL OBSERVED ON THIS DATE IN JUNE 2011.

MANY COMMUNITIES ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS CONTINUE TO HAVE
WATER RESTRICTIONS IN PLACE TO DUE LACK OF CONSISTENT RAINFALL
AND INCREASED USAGE. STRICTER RESTRICTIONS COULD BE IMPLEMENTED
AT ANY TIME IF THE DRIER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS PERSIST.

THE BARTON SPRINGS REMAIN IN NO DROUGHT CONDITIONS FOR AQUIFERS
WITHIN THE DISTRICT.

AUSTIN AND SAN MARCOS ARE CURRENTLY IN STAGE 2 WATER
RESTRICTIONS. KERRVILLE IS CURRENTLY IN STAGE 1 WATER RESTRICTIONS.
ALL CITIES CONTINUE TO WARN RESIDENTS THAT STRICTER RESTRICTIONS
COULD RETURN AT ANY TIME IF DRIER CONDITIONS CONTINUE.

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 JULY 12 2012 OR SOONER IF
NECESSARY.