2008 may be behind us, but the drought continues.  And let’s not forget the historical significance of what is happening here in Central Texas.  Here is a list of the top 5 driest years in Austin since record keeping began in 1856, and notice that 2008, with only 16 inches of rainfall, ranks #4, and was the driest year since 1956: 

1.  1954  11.42

2.  1956  15.41

3.  1917  15.58 

4.  2008  16.07   

5.  1963  17.30

The good news–there is rain in the forecast.  While it won’t be enough to have any significant impact on our drought, it is possible that some of our area, especially counties along and east of IH-35, could receive more than one inch of rainfall in two storm systems that will affect our area tonight and Saturday, and then again Monday. 

In addition, there is a slight risk of severe thunderstorms as the disturbance moving into the Big Bend area tonight tracks east toward Central Texas early Saturday.  Here’s the risk area from the Storm Prediction Center:

Here is a map from the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center that shows how much rain could fall over the next five days: 

It will also be colder Monday.  In fact, after unusually warm weather today and Saturday, a cold front Sunday will bring temperatures back to normal, then as the clouds and rain begin Monday it will be a very chilly day, with high temperatures remaining in the 40s. 

TODAY’S POLLEN COUNT:

Mold 719 Medium

Cedar 54 Medium 

Here’s a Public Information Statement from the National Weather Service about the weather in 2008, followed by another interesting look back at significant local weather events last year. 

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
1050 AM CST THU JAN 1 2009

…2008 WEATHER SUMMARY…

2008 WAS ONE OF THE DRIEST YEARS OF RECORD FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.
THE DROUGHT THIS YEAR FOLLOWED A BRIEF VERY WET PERIOD FROM JANUARY
TO AUGUST 2007…THAT WAS PRECEDED BY A DROUGHT FROM THE SPRING OF
2005 THROUGH 2006.

RAINFALL FOR 2008 WAS THE 4TH DRIEST AT AUSTIN MABRY…WITH 16.07
INCHES OF RAIN…AND THE 5TH DRIEST AT AUSTIN BERGSTROM…WITH 15.98
INCHES OF RAIN.

THE DRIEST YEARS AT AUSTIN MABRY FROM 1856 TO 2008 ARE LISTED BELOW.

1.  1954  11.42     7.  1893  19.04
2.  1956  15.41     8.  1988  19.21
3.  1917  15.58     9.  1901  19.50
4.  2008  16.07    10.  1856  19.63
5.  1963  17.30    11.  1912  20.37
6.  1879  18.34    12.  1909  20.57

THE DRIEST YEARS AT AUSTIN BERGSTROM FROM 1943 TO 2008 ARE LISTED
BELOW.

1.  1954   9.98     7.  1943  18.64
2.  1947  11.87     8.  1955  18.91
3.  1948  13.92     9.  1989  21.00
4.  1956  15.65    10.  1977  21.42
5.  2008  15.98    11.  2005  21.45
6.  1963  15.99    12.  2003  23.38

IN ADDITION…THE PERIOD FROM SEPTEMBER 2007 TO DECEMBER 2008 WAS
ONE OF THE DRIEST 16 MONTH PERIODS FROM SEPTEMBER OF THE PREVIOUS
YEAR THROUGH DECEMBER OF THE FOLLOWING YEAR AT AUSTIN.

FROM SEPTEMBER 2007 TO DECEMBER 2008 AUSTIN MABRY HAD 23.00 INCHES
OF RAIN.  THIS WAS THE 4TH DRIEST 16 MONTH SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER…
PLUS THE FOLLOWING YEARS JANUARY TO DECEMBER PERIOD AT AUSTIN
MABRY.  THE DRIEST 16 MONTH SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER…PLUS THE
FOLLOWING YEARS JANUARY TO DECEMBER PERIOD AT AUSTIN MABRY IS LISTED
BELOW.

1. SEPTEMBER 1955 TO DECEMBER 1956…….19.24
2. SEPTEMBER 1916 TO DECEMBER 1917…….20.73
3. SEPTEMBER 1878 TO DECEMBER 1879…….21.85
4. SEPTEMBER 2007 TO DECEMBER 2008…….23.00
5. SEPTEMBER 1947 TO DECEMBER 1948…….25.03
6. SEPTEMBER 1954 TO DECEMBER 1955…….25.21
7. SEPTEMBER 1953 TO DECEMBER 1954…….26.65

LIKE THE FALL OF 2007…YEAR 2008 BEGAN DRY IN JANUARY AND
FEBRUARY.  SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CAME TO THE AREA
FROM MARCH TO MAY…FOLLOWED BY A VERY DRY AND HOT JUNE.  SCATTERED
SHOWERS RETURNED IN JULY AND AUGUST…WHERE THE RAIN WAS MORE
NUMEROUS OVER THE WEST PART OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.  VERY DRY
CONDITIONS RETURNED FROM SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER.  THE FIRST FREEZE
FOR THE FALL OF 2008 CAME ABOUT 2 TO 3 WEEKS EARLIER THAN USUAL.
AS THE YEAR ENDED IN DECEMBER…CONTRASTS BETWEEN WARM AND COLD
INCREASED IN DECEMBER 2008.  TEMPERATURES FELL 40 TO 50 DEGREES
FROM THE MID TO LATE AFTERNOON THROUGH THE EVENING OF DECEMBER 9TH…
2008.  ON DECEMBER 9TH…THE STRONG COLD FRONT INITIALLY BROUGHT
CLOUDS AND RAIN. THE PRECIPITATION THEN TURNED TO SLEET AND SNOW
DURING THE EVENING OF THE 9TH TO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF THE 10TH
FROM PARTS OF THE HILL COUNTRY AND EAST TO ADJACENT PARTS OF CENTRAL
TEXAS AND SOME OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.  AUSTIN MABRY HAD 0.1 INCHES
OF SNOW ON THE EVENING OF DECEMBER 9TH…WHILE AUSTIN BERGSTROM HAD
A TRACE OF SNOW.  IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF WEDNESDAY…
DECEMBER 10TH…AUSTIN MABRY AND AUSTIN BERGSTROM HAD A TRACE
OF SNOW.  SOME OF THE PRECIPITATION ON THE EVENING OF DECEMBER 9TH
WAS ACCOMPANIED BY BRIEF THUNDERSTORMS AND LIGHTNING.

THE LIST BELOW SHOWS THE WARMEST AND COLDEST TEMPERATURES OF
2008…PLUS THE TOTAL RAINFALL FOR THE YEAR AT SOME LOCATIONS
ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

LOCATION           COLDEST LOW    WARMEST HIGH      YEARLY RAIN

AUSTIN MABRY       25 JAN. 20TH   105 JUL. 14TH      16.07
                                  105 AUG.  3RD

AUSTIN BERGSTROM   15 JAN. 20TH   103 AUG.  3RD      15.98
INTERNATIONAL                     103 AUG.  4TH
AIRPORT                           103 AUG. 10TH

BURNET MUNICIPAL   23 JAN. 2ND    102 AUG. 3RD       15.52
CRADDOCK FIELD

2008 Year in Review

It seems everyone does a top 10 list at the end of the year for just about everything.  So, how about a Top 10 Central Texas Weather Events list for 2008?  Fortunately for me, my friend Bob Rose at the LCRA did all the dirty work for us, and put together the following:

First, some odds and ends….

 ·         In Austin, the hottest temperature reported this year at Camp Mabry was 105 degrees on 7/15 and 8/3.  For Austin-Bergstrom, the highest temperature was 103 degrees on 8/3, 8/4 and 8/10.

 ·         The lowest temperature for the year was 25 degrees at Camp Mabry on 1/20 and 15 degrees at Austin-Bergstrom also on 1/20.

 ·         Rainfall for the year at Camp Mabry will end up at 16.07 inches, 17.58 inches below normal.  47 percent of normal rain.  The 4th driest year on record dating back to 1856.  The driest year since 1956.

 ·         Rainfall for the year at Austin-Bergstom will end up at 15.98 inches, 18.75 inches below normal.  46 percent of normal rain.  The 5th driest year on record dating back to 1943.  The driest year since 1956.

10 important weather events in Central Texas in 2008, in no particular order:

*May 14-15th   A severe thunderstorm tracked across central Austin producing unusually large and damaging hail of 2 to 4 inches.  Wind gusts of 70 to 80 mph were reported over this same area.  Widespread damage to homes and businesses.

*May 10th  A severe thunderstorm moved over Austin producing 2.25 inch hail at Camp Mabry and 1/8th inch at Bergstrom.  Some damage was produced by this storm. 

*May 13th  A severe thunderstorm moved over Burnet County producing an EF0 tornado.  Surprisingly, only minor damage.

*May 20th  The temperature reached 101 degrees.  This was the 4th earliest 100 degree reading on record.  The temperature also reached 100 degrees on May 23rd. 

*The month of June was the hottest June ever recorded.  The monthly average temperature of 87.4 degrees was 1 degree warmer than the previous record June of 1998.  There were 20 days with the temperature at or above 100 degrees.  This broke the record for the most 100 degree days ever recorded in June (previous record was 17 set in 1925). 

*June through August tied with 1998 for the hottest summer ever.  Average temperature was 86.7 degrees.  For the year, there were 50 100-degree days placing 2008 in third place for the most 100 degrees days in one year.  1925 and 1923 are in first and second place, with 69 and 66 days respectively. 

*September 9th, a weak tornado developed over Lake Buchanan.  The tornado developed in a fairly stable atmosphere and was widely photographed. 

*Unusually cold air arrived on October 28th, dropping the temperature below freezing across most of the Hill Country and a few spots across Central Texas.  The low at AUS reached 33 degrees while ATT reached 40.  This is several weeks ahead of the normal first freeze in autumn.  It should be noted that the barometric pressure reached 30.66 inches at Camp Mabry on October 27th.  This broke the previous October record for highest barometric pressure of 30.65 inches set in 1957. 

*December 9th  The temperature reached a record tying high of 81 degrees at 122 pm.  An arctic cold front came through the area that afternoon, plunging the temperature in the 30s by evening.  The low for the day was 34 degrees, producing a 47-degree span of temperature for the day.  A dusting of snow and light sleet fell across the city in the late evening.  Officially , only a trace of snow was observed but some areas did receive close to a half inch. Big, fat snowflakes were observed for more than an hour across much of the city.

* 2008 will likely close as the 4th driest year on record at Camp Mabry, with just over 16 inches of rain.  An moderate to extreme drought gripped the area for most of 2008.  Annual rainfall has been less than half the normal annual total.   Many springs have run dry.  Aquifers and lakes are low.  Despite 3 tropical systems moving inland along the Texas coast this summer, none of these brought any rain to Central Texas.

* 2008 will likely be the driest year in Austin since 1956, when 15.41 inches was recorded. 

*16 100 degree days were recorded in July at Camp Mabry.  This places July 2008 in 5th place for the most 100-degree days in July.