Texas Climate Report: October 2013

The first full month of fall brought with it approximately normal temperatures, but a huge spread on rainfall. Central Texas recorded one of the wettest Octobers on record, while West Texas recorded the driest, so rainfall was absolutely hit and miss. Drought conditions with the rainfall improved greatly in the places that received the rain. Drought free conditions pushed from the Sabine River towards the Interstate 45 corridor, with all but far Northeast Texas out of the drought. To the southwest of San Antonio drought conditions drew back as well, but for the remainder of the state drought status remained mostly unchanged as precipitation ranged from normal to slightly below normal.

The biggest weather events this month both slammed Central Texas, and brought soaking rains to nearly anywhere east of Interstate 35. The first soaking rain event occurred on October 13th when an upper level low combined with ample moisture produced heavy rainfall from Midland to Beaumont. The Austin area was hit the hardest, with places outside of town recording over a foot of rain. The second great rainmaker of the month hit some of the same places just as hard. On October 30th the remnants of Tropical Storm Raymond combined with a cold front and another upper level low to produce training thunderstorms that once again produced flooding rains across Central Texas. Just to the south of Austin in Wimberley, Texas, roughly 14 inches of rain were recorded. Both of these systems brought flash flooding for much of Central and East Texas, and together helped to improve drought conditions. To the west of these flooded places, such as in the Big Bend region and the upper Panhandle, zero rainfall was recorded for the whole month.

Because of heavy rainfall and strong cold fronts, the month was cooler than one would expect after so many months of above average temperatures. The first freeze of the season in the Panhandle came a few weeks ahead of normal on October 18th when a cold front brought polar air out of Canada into the state of Texas, giving all Texan's a cool week to dust off their sweaters.

Monthly Summary for Selected Cities

	TMAX (°F)			TMIN (°F)			TAVG (°F)		PRCP				*Deg. Days
Station	Mean	*Dep.	Max.	Mean	*Dep.	Min.	Mean	*Dep.	Days ≥ 0.01"	Mo. Total	*Perc. Norm.	Gr'st 24 hr.	*HDD	*CDD
Abilene	78.2	+0.9	90	55.2	+0.9	36	66.7	+0.9	5	1.40	47%	0.40	79	140
Amarillo	73.5	+1.6	91	43.0	‑1.7	27	58.3	0.0	6	0.17	10%	0.10	235	34
Austin	82.0	+0.2	93	61.0	+0.4	44	71.5	+0.3	12	*13.28*	342%	6.24	20	229
Brownsville	87.6	+1.9	93	69.6	+2.7	57	78.6	+2.3	7	1.63	44%	0.59	0	430
College Station	80.7	‑0.7	91	60.5	+0.2	44	70.6	‑0.2	11	9.10	185%	4.31	19	200
Corpus Christi	87.1	+2.7	93	67.5	+2.7	52	77.3	+2.7	7	2.45	67%	1.51	0	388
Dallas‑Fort Worth	78.8	+0.5	93	57.6	+0.8	43	68.2	+0.7	9	3.13	74%	1.25	44	152
Del Rio	82.0	‑0.4	94	62.2	+1.2	47	72.1	+0.4	4	1.40	63%	0.92	9	239
El Paso	78.6	+0.4	89	52.3	+0.3	38	65.5	+0.4	0	0.00	0%	0.00	58	79
Galveston	80.1	‑0.5	88	69.4	+1.3	58	74.7	+0.4	10	6.85	124%	3.13	0	309
Houston	81.5	‑0.5	93	61.1	+0.2	46	71.3	‑0.2	13	7.08	124%	2.18	8	212
Lubbock	76.5	+1.3	95	47.6	‑0.3	32	62.1	+0.6	2	1.15	60%	1.11	159	76
Midland	79.0	+1.1	96	53.5	+1.7	38	66.3	+1.5	2	1.66	96%	1.42	79	125
Port Arthur	81.0	+0.4	91	62.3	+1.8	48	71.7	+1.1	11	7.78	139%	3.38	9	221
San Angelo	78.8	0.0	90	54.2	+0.6	39	66.5	+0.3	7	1.46	53%	0.76	82	137
San Antonio	83.9	+1.7	93	63.0	+2.9	46	73.5	+2.3	8	2.81	68%	0.89	11	282
Victoria	85.4	+1.9	95	62.9	+2.0	48	74.1	+1.9	9	3.45	74%	2.25	4	292
Waco	79.3	‑0.6	91	56.3	‑0.3	39	67.8	‑0.5	10	7.30	187%	3.59	49	145
Wichita Falls	77.5	+0.5	92	52.8	+0.8	36	65.2	+0.7	4	1.95	63%	0.75	102	115
Shreveport, LA	77.9	‑0.3	89	57.5	+2.9	42	67.7	+1.3	12	7.02	142%	3.07	38	131
*Bold-italics* indicate a value broke or tied the record from a previous year. Dep.: Departure of the monthly average temperature from the 1981-2010 monthly normal, which is provided by the National Climatic Data Center. Perc. Norm.: Monthly precipitation total divided by 1981-2010 monthly normal, which is provided by the National Climatic Data Center. Deg. Days: Computed daily as the departure of the daily average temperature from 65°F and aggregated over the entire month. Heating degree day (HDD): Each unit corresponds to a -1°F departure of a daily average temperature from 65°F. *Cooling degree day (HDD): Each unit corresponds to a +1°F departure of a daily average temperature from 65°F.

Monthly Extremes

Least Precipitation Overall for the Month (inches)
Station	County	Value
BRAVO	HARTLEY	0.00
JERICHO	GRAY	0.00
KERMIT	WINKLER	0.00
MULESHOE #1	BAILEY	0.00
Greatest Precipitation Overall for the Month (inches)
Station	County	Value
WIMBERLEY 1 NW	HAYS	17.97
Greatest Precipitation in 24 Hours (inches)
Station	County	Value
WIMBERLEY 1 NW	HAYS	12.45
Lowest Average Daily Temperature (°F)
Station	County	Value
BRAVO	HARTLEY	52.8
Highest Average Daily Temperature (°F)
Station	County	Value
MCALLEN MILLER INTL AP	HIDALGO	78.7
Lowest Average Daily Maximum Temperature (°F)
Station	County	Value
BRAVO	HARTLEY	69.1
Highest Average Daily Maximum Temperature (°F)
Station	County	Value
FALCON DAM	STARR	90.2
Highest Maximum Temperature (°F)
Station	County	Value
LAJITAS	BREWSTER	102
Lowest Maximum Temperature&nbsnbsp; (°F)
Station	County	Value
DUMAS	MOORE	40
Lowest Average Daily Minimum Temperature (°F)
Station	County	Value
BRAVO	HARTLEY	36.5
Highest Average Daily Minimum Temperature (°F)
Station	County	Value
PORT ARANSAS	NUECES	72.2
Highest Minimum Temperature (°F)
Station	County	Value
BEEVILLE 5 NE	BEE	83
Lowest Minimum Temperature (°F)
Station	County	Value
ROCKSPRINGS	EDWARDS	9

New Monthly Records

Least Precipitation Overall for the Month (inches)
Station	County	Value	Previous Record	Yrs. Data
BORGER HUTCHINSON CO AP	HUTCHINSON	0.26	0.28 (2007)	14
BRAVO	HARTLEY	0.00	0.00 (2001)	70
KERMIT	WINKLER	0.00	0.00 (2012)	10
MULESHOE #1	BAILEY	0.00	0.00 (1992)	89
Greatest Precipitation Overall for the Month (inches)
Station	County	Value	Previous Record	Yrs. Data
AUSTIN‑CAMP MABRY	TRAVIS	13.28	12.39 (1998)	76
AUSTIN 8SSE	TRAVIS	10.66	7.16 (2009)	10
BREMOND	ROBERTSON	12.01	11.45 (2009)	51
CARRIZO SPRINGS 3W	DIMMIT	11.75	9.37 (1971)	81
DRIPPING SPRINGS 6 E	HAYS	14.75	11.07 (1998)	28
JASPER	JASPER	13.57	13.12 (2009)	62
LOS ANGELES 4 WSW	LA SALLE	6.35	4.62 (1998)	13
PALESTINE 6 WNW	ANDERSON	11.23	5.43 (2006)	10
SAN SABA 7 NW	SAN SABA	5.67	5.14 (2004)	11
WIMBERLEY 1 NW	HAYS	17.97	16.43 (1998)	29
Greatest Precipitation in 24 Hours Ever in the Month (inches)
Station	County	Value	Previous Record	Yrs. Data
AQUILLA 1 SSE	HILL	4.24	4.19 (2001)	20
BIG SPRING 5 NE	HOWARD	1.49	1.45 (2008)	10
CARRIZO SPRINGS 3W	DIMMIT	11.48	7.50 (1945)	81
CORPUS CHRISTI NWS	NUECES	1.35	1.21 (2006)	10
COTULLA LA SALLE CO AP	LA SALLE	7.38	7.00 (1985)	96
HALLSVILLE 1 W	HARRISON	5.18	3.45 (1998)	16
HENDERSON	RUSK	8.14	7.47 (1957)	101
HOUSTON CLOVER FLD	BRAZORIA	4.97	4.66 (2003)	12
HUNTSVILLE MUNI AP	WALKER	3.43	2.76 (2003)	12
JASPER	JASPER	10.18	5.24 (1994)	62
LEES	GLASSCOCK	3.81	1.17 (2008)	10
LOMA ALTA	MCMULLEN	2.61	2.52 (2011)	12
LONGVIEW	GREGG	6.55	3.01 (2009)	11
LOS ANGELES 4 WSW	LA SALLE	5.57	1.90 (2009)	13
PALESTINE 6 WNW	ANDERSON	5.64	2.27 (2006)	10
PINELAND	SABINE	7.50	7.50 (2006)	34
ROUND ROCK 3 NE	WILLIAMSON	7.87	6.10 (1998)	45
SAN SABA 7 NW	SAN SABA	3.38	1.90 (2004)	11
TAYLOR 1 NW	WILLIAMSON	4.64	3.24 (2004)	14
TURKEY	HALL	6.68	4.10 (1946)	57
WOODVILLE	TYLER	8.00	5.95 (2006)	22
Lowest Average Daily Maximum Temperature (°F)
Station	County	Value	Previous Record	Yrs. Data
CORPUS CHRISTI NWS	NUECES	83.2	83.5 (2008)	10
ELDORADO	SCHLEICHER	74.9	74.9 (2009)	10
Highest Maximum Temperature Ever in the Month (°F)
Station	County	Value	Previous Record	Yrs. Data
ANGLETON BRAZORIA AP	BRAZORIA	92	92 (2005)	12
FT STOCKTON PECOS AP	PECOS	98	98 (2011)	11
HOUSTON CLOVER FLD	BRAZORIA	93	93 (1998)	12
K‑BAR RCH	ECTOR	97	97 (2011)	10
MULESHOE 19 S	BAILEY	92	92 (2007)	10
SAN ANTONIO STINSON AP	BEXAR	95	95 (2011)	16
Lowest Average Daily Minimum Temperature (°F)
Station	County	Value	Previous Record	Yrs. Data
BRAVO	HARTLEY	36.5	37.5 (1976)	46
BUSHLAND 1 WSW	POTTER	38.6	39.2 (2012)	14
HART	CASTRO	38.8	39.5 (2009)	27
MULESHOE 19 S	BAILEY	39.1	39.5 (2009)	10
Highest Average Daily Minimum Temperature (°F)
Station	County	Value	Previous Record	Yrs. Data
DRYDEN 10 NE	TERRELL	55.3	54.1 (2007)	10
Highest Minimum Temperature Ever in the Month (°F)
Station	County	Value	Previous Record	Yrs. Data
DRYDEN 10 NE	TERRELL	71	70 (2007)	10
FREER	DUVAL	76	76 (2004)	33
FT WORTH NAS	TARRANT	77	76 (2007)	33
HONDO MUNI AP	MEDINA	78	78 (1998)	35
KENT 8 SE	JEFF DAVIS	67	67 (2012)	17
LAKE FORK RSVR	WOOD	74	74 (2004)	25
SAM RAYBURN DAM	JASPER	79	79 (2009)	42
SAN SABA 7 NW	SAN SABA	71	70 (2007)	12
VIGO PARK	SWISHER	62	62 (2007)	10

Climatic Averages for November

	TMAX (°F)		TMIN (°F)		PRCP (inches)			No. Days in Month			Deg. Days
Station	Avg.	Record	Avg.	Record	Avg.	Gr'st Mo.	Gr'st 24 hr.	≥ 90°F	≤ 32°F	PRCP ≥ 0.01"	HDD	CDD
Abilene	66.3	92 (1980)	43.0	13 (1887)	1.41	5.82 (1913)	2.48 (2004)	0.1	4.4	4.6	329	19
Amarillo	60.0	87 (1980)	32.5	0 (1976)	0.80	5.09 (1905)	3.01 (1905)	0.0	14.5	4.0	564	1
Austin	71.4	91 (2006)	50.6	20 (1976)	2.96	14.10 (2004)	7.55 (2001)	0.1	0.4	7.5	181	61
Brownsville	79.1	98 (1906)	59.6	27 (1911)	1.82	7.69 (1986)	4.08 (1986)	0.4	0.0	6.0	50	180
College Station	71.0	94 (1921)	50.5	19 (1976)	3.22	13.06 (1907)	5.56 (1907)	0.0	0.7	8.1	188	61
Corpus Christi	76.0	98 (1988)	56.2	27 (2011)	1.97	8.64 (1888)	4.61 (1892)	0.4	0.1	6.0	91	124
Dallas‑Fort Worth	66.9	89 (2005)	46.2	19 (1950)	2.71	7.94 (1918)	4.72 (1918)	0.1	1.8	6.4	282	29
Del Rio	72.0	96 (1988)	49.6	17 (1906)	0.93	4.71 (2004)	2.87 (1914)	0.2	0.6	4.4	173	47
El Paso	66.2	87 (1983)	40.1	1 (1976)	0.49	2.50 (1906)	1.19 (1943)	0.0	4.9	3.1	359	3
Galveston	71.6	85 (1988)	58.6	26 (1911)	4.51	16.18 (1940)	9.01 (1940)	0.0	0.0	8.0	94	97
Houston	72.5	89 (2010)	52.1	19 (1976)	4.34	14.10 (1943)	10.83 (1943)	0.1	0.4	8.2	155	74
Lubbock	63.6	90 (2006)	35.9	‑1 (1957)	0.85	6.65 (2004)	1.67 (2004)	0.0	9.5	3.8	460	3
Midland	66.6	90 (1996)	39.2	10 (1938)	0.69	5.42 (2004)	2.17 (2004)	0.0	6.4	3.0	370	7
Port Arthur	71.7	90 (1905)	51.8	22 (1976)	4.40	22.74 (1902)	7.70 (1946)	0.0	0.4	8.1	161	64
San Angelo	68.3	93 (1980)	42.3	12 (1911)	1.14	5.18 (2004)	2.57 (2001)	0.1	5.1	4.0	309	18
San Antonio	72.2	94 (1988)	50.1	21 (1976)	2.28	9.46 (2004)	4.87 (1977)	0.1	1.1	6.7	178	62
Victoria	74.2	93 (1988)	51.8	24 (1976)	3.24	16.14 (2004)	9.20 (2004)	0.1	0.5	7.3	140	80
Waco	68.5	92 (1988)	46.5	17 (1976)	2.82	10.36 (1902)	4.26 (1952)	0.1	2.6	7.3	261	36
Wichita Falls	65.1	89 (1988)	40.3	14 (1950)	1.65	7.39 (1902)	3.15 (1902)	0.0	5.8	5.3	381	12
Shreveport, LA	67.5	88 (1984)	45.2	16 (1976)	4.53	10.81 (1987)	6.51 (1987)	0.0	2.7	8.7	285	25
Climatic averages are based on 1981-2010 monthly normals, which are provided by the National Climatic Data Center.