Just a few days after Hurricane Harvey devastated the Texas coast, only 4 percent of Texas was listed in drought conditions.
With over 90 days since the last measurable rainfall here in Dawson County and over 100 days in the Amarillo area, more than 40 percent of Texas now is listed in a drought condition.
“As soon as Hurricane Harvey cleared Texas, then we almost immediately started going into the next drought,” said Mark Wentzel, a hydrologist for the Texas Water Development Board said in a Texas Tribune article dated Feb. 4.
While August, 2017, was the wettest year in Texas for the past 124 years, every month since has been considerably dry, according to records kept by various weather organizations.
Beaumont, which received about 50 inches of rain when Harvey stayed in rotation around the city, currently meets the requirements of a moderate drought situation.
All of the 26 counties listed in the Panhandle near Amarillo are in a severe to extreme drought and most have burn bans in effect.
Farmers in Dawson County and the surrounding area who have cotton growing acres are looking to the sky and wondering when a significant amount of rain might prepare the ground for the 2018 cotton crop.
The average cotton planting time begins in mid-May and continues through the first two weeks of June.
Ample rainfall is needed to get the crop started each year.