Texas Climate Report: October 1997

The Southern and Coastal regions of Texas received most of the attention in October, where heavy rains fell as persistent winds continued to supply Southern Texas with an abundance of Gulf moisture during the first two weeks of the month. Victoria (360%), Corpus Christi (398%) and Brownsville (470%) all experienced total monthly precipitation amounts which were over three times the expected values. In general, the Panhandle and West Texas were drier than normal, with El Paso receiving only 25% of the normal precipitation for October. Monthly mean temperatures were colder than normal throughout the Central, Southern and Plains regions of the state. West and North Texas temperatures were near to slightly above normal.

Warm conditions which characterized the end of September continued into the early part of October. Texas did not experience weather nearly as devastating as that of Hurricane Pauline in Mexico (8th and 9th), but persistent rainfall during the first and second weeks of the month across the Lone Star State did cause some flooding. With a persistent high pressure system set up to the east of Texas, and a low pressure system spinning in the west, strong southerly flow into the state resulted. These same winds which kept temperatures above normal during the beginning of October carried great amounts of moisture inland from the Gulf of Mexico. Heavy rainfall resulted along the Gulf Coast and flooding became a problem in many areas. Houston, Galveston, Austin, and Brownsville all received more than 4 inches of rain over the span of a couple days during the beginning of the second week, but concerns about conditions in Nueces County were much more serious during this same time period. Rainfall totals in and around Corpus Christi from the 9th to the 11th ranged from 8.65" to as much as 17.00". Flooding forced nearly 200 people from their homes in towns south of Corpus Christi.

A strong cold front pushed its way across Texas at the end of the second week, bringing behind it much cooler temperatures and long-awaited clear skies. After the passage of the front, average daily temperature departures of about +6°F quickly changed to -6°F as Texans brought out their jackets for the autumn weather.

Texas welcomed the drier conditions throughout the third week of October, but more severe weather would soon hamper the eastern sections of the state once again. A line of intense thunderstorms traversed East Texas on the 23rd dumping more than 2.50" of rain in North Texas and spawning tornadoes in the Upper Coast region. Scattered flooding and numerous traffic accidents resulted in Dallas as both road conditions and visibility became poor. Further south, at least four twisters touched down in the afternoon across Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend and Liberty counties, damaging homes and knocking out power in some areas. Cool and dry weather continued through the final week of October for most of the state, while the South received close to an inch of precipitation, adding to the already high monthly totals in their region.

Monthly Summary for Selected Cities

Monthly Extremes

New Monthly Records

Climatic Averages for November