So far, autumn has brought several inches of rain to the Brazos Valley, but it is too little, too late in some areas.
Texas State Climatologist and Texas A&M Regents Professor John Nielsen-Gammon says although Easterwood is only about five inches under its normal rainfall, some areas of the Brazos Valley, such as Lake Somerville Dam and Washington on the Brazos, have as much as 18 inches still lacking from their yearly rainfall.
He says in a normal year, the valley receives 35 to 45 inches, but it’s almost October and there have only been 20 to 30.
Nielsen-Gammon says looking at the last three years, it’s been between 60 to 75% of the normal numbers, with 2011 the driest year on record for this area.
He says there will be drought recovery when there are normal amounts of moisture in the ground and run-off filling streams and stock ponds, and a few months of above-average rainfall could do that.
As for the winter, he says there currently isn’t anything in the Pacific ocean that would drive the weather towards anything unusual.