Weekly Climate Summary: 9/3/2023-9/9/2023

Climate in the News:

Although meteorological fall is now here, the dry, hot weather of Summer 2023 has followed Texans into September. These weather conditions have not been kind to our state, causing drought conditions to consistently worsen. The persistent and severely dry soils have put a huge strain on Texas infrastructure. As some soils dry, they contract, causing water lines to shift and break. According to Inside Climate News, broken pipes can cost billions of gallons of water and hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Below is a photo of Odessa City employees working to repair a broken water main in June of 2022 as a result of shifting grounds. This is just one example in which drought can easily impact people on an individual basis. It becomes important for everyone to do what they can in terms of conserving water while the drought continues. If interested in reading more, visit Inside Climate News: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06092023/texas-heat-drought-broken-water-pipes/

Source: Inside Climate News

Weather Synopsis:

During the beginning of the week, a cold front began sweeping its way into Texas but quickly stalled into a stationary front mid-week. By the end of Friday, the front started pushing southward once again. The weak nature of this front did little to impact temperatures but was responsible for bringing precipitation to some areas. Below is a surface analysis depicting the stationary front on Wednesday (Sept. 6th) at 10pm. Take note of the lack of temperature change on either side of the boundary (temperatures are listed in red font).

Source: Weather Prediction Center

Temperature:

Last week brought another round of above average temperatures to our state. The warmest portions had temperatures exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit with the highest average recorded at 93.4 degrees in Stephens County. The majority of the state had temperatures between 80 and 90 degrees while parts of the Panhandle and Far West Texas fell below 80 degrees. The coolest weekly average was 77.0 degrees in Castro County. Overall, temperatures were above average with some areas being as much as 10 degrees above normal.

Precipitation:

As a result of the front, large portions of the state were fortunate to see rainfall. Many of these areas are severely afflicted with drought so this rainfall was very welcome. The heaviest rainfall occurred towards East Texas with the highest total recorded at 2.85” in Angelina County.

Records/Extremes:

• September 8 -  State-Wide - 12 stations set record high temperatures exceeding 110 degrees.
• September 8 - Montgomery County - 75 mph winds blew through Magnolia, downing some tree limbs and fences.
• September 9 - Red River County - 1.5” hail fell in Clarksville.