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December capped off what has shaped up to be one of the warmest years on record for Texas. Frontal passages were common, though were fast and generally weak with the exception of one during Christmas. For the most part, temperatures stayed above average for most of the month and much of the state didn't see any significant precipitation for the third straight month. As such, dryland crops in central Texas continue to struggle with concerns that winter wheat will not have significant yields; farmers in the Panhandle are feeling the same concerns, though slightly higher precipitation accumulations are buoying their crops for the time being. Farmers all over the state are concerned about their fiscal future, as the 2008 farm bill allocating $300 billion in farm subsidies expired this year and progress on a new bill has been slow; suggested cuts to the bill between 20 to 30 billion dollars over 10 years is another cause for concern.

With state-wide reservoir storage in a declining trend, new water usage restrictions are in place in Austin, Corpus Christi, and several places in North Central Texas. Other places are developing new plans for water conservation and storage. The North Texas and Upper Trinity water districts have seen significant declines in reservoir storage in recent months, with the latter planning on adding new lakes to its draw pool to increase total supply storage. Older plans are being further developed, such as San Angelo plan to develop piping to the Hickory Aquifer, which is expected to see completion by September 2014. Above average temperatures and low short-term rainfall are also driving concerns over potential wildfires, as evidenced by Bastrop's requesting an additional $7 million for fire response and grassland fires causing strain on some fire response teams.

Several frontal passages resulted in strong winds and storms, causing damage in multiple events. Power outages were numerous, with over 60,000 and 70,000 in two separate events in Houston, with an additional 42,000 in Dallas and 4,900 in Austin from the latter event. A system late in the month brought snow and power outages to North Texas and Longview for Christmas, to the tune of 8,000 people without power, and tornadoes in Houston and Beaumont though with much less damage. Minor reports from wind and fog-driven traffic and landscaping damage were common as well in other parts of the state.
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