Weekly Climate Summary: 10/08/23-10/14/23

Climate in the News:

If you have been following the drought updates on our website, you may have noticed that the drought monitor map is slowly showing improvements across the state thanks to modest but consistent precipitation. You may have also noticed that the number of counties under a burn ban has been decreasing each week as a result. Just three weeks ago we had 199 counties under a burn ban, while now we have 129 counties. Take a look below at the most recent map of county burn bans within the state:

Source: Texas A&M Forest Service

Weather Synopsis:

The beginning of last week was uneventful for our state following the front that occurred during the first week of October. Some rain fell in the southeastern portion of our state midweek as a result of very high moisture levels. At the end of the week, a low pressure system pushed another cold front across our state, bringing cooler temperatures with it. Below is a surface analysis from October 13 at 1:00 pm showing the low pressure system when it was located over Iowa and its attached cold front extending across our state.

Source: Storm Prediction Center

Temperature:

Last week was near normal for our state. The warmest portions had temperatures near 80 degrees Fahrenheit with the highest average recorded at 78.2 degrees in Cameron County. The majority of the state had temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees while parts of the Panhandle fell below 70 degrees. The coolest weekly average was 60.2 degrees in Dallam County. Overall, temperatures were mostly within 3 degrees of the long-term temperature average for this time of year, with above-average deviations west of I-35 and below-average deviations east of I-35.

Precipitation:

Last week did not bring much rain to our state, with South Texas and the Upper Coast being the predominant recipients during the time frame. Some of the accumulations exceeded 1” in total with the highest accumulation for the week recorded at 2.83” in Frio County.