{"id":3265,"date":"2026-07-30T00:30:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T00:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=3265"},"modified":"2026-07-30T00:30:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T00:30:29","slug":"early-fall-outlook-points-to-heat-fire-risk-and-continued-drought-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/early-fall-outlook-points-to-heat-fire-risk-and-continued-drought-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Fall Outlook Points to Heat, Fire Risk, and Continued Drought Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

West Texas Rangelands would like to extend our gratitude to Mr. Luke Drosche for collaborating with us and providing this weather update for our readers.\u00a0 We thank him for sharing his time, talents, and knowledge with us as a guest contributor.\u00a0 Luke serves with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service as a Disaster Assessment and Recovery Specialist.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

3-Month Precipitation Outlook<\/strong>
\nHeavy Rainfall is always two-sided. This month we have seen extremely high rainfall totals across the Hill Country.\u00a0 All of that rain flows into the Highland Lakes, Choke Canyon, Lake Corpus Christi, and Canyon Lake.\u00a0 These lakes needed a boost, especially those down in South Texas near Corpus Christi.\u00a0 While providing necessary drinking water, unfortunately, this extreme event took multiple lives and has cost Texas millions of dollars.\u00a0 To those who are tired of the rain, the next 3 months are expected to be slightly drier than what we have recently experienced.\u00a0 Most of the state is in a \u201cLeaning Below\u201d category while El Paso sits in a rare \u201cLeaning Above\u201d category. They are more likely to see some rain.\u00a0 Both categories are in slight chances, meaning there is less likelihood of deviation from the typical early fall precipitation.<\/p>\n

3-Month Temperature Outlook<\/strong>
\nWhile rainfall chances sit in the middle, our temperature predictions are confident. That\u2019s right, hot.\u00a0 It is near August in Texas, and here we are seeing extreme heat across our state.\u00a0 Nothing new for the majority of us, who have understood what the late dog days of summer typically bring.\u00a0 NOAA also understands this, as all of the state is in a Higher-than-Average category for summertime temperatures.\u00a0 We will need to watch areas that have high fuel loads from previous rains and remaining grasses, as the expedited drying will create dangerous fire weather conditions across the State.<\/p>\n

Drought Update<\/strong>
\nWe have seen continued improvements in the Hill Country, Northeast, and in West Texas with recent rainfall.\u00a0 Some light improvements have also found the panhandle with areas of extreme drought shrinking down to 1% rather than 4% from last update.\u00a0 The Panhandle still needs more rainfall to find further relief before stifling summer temperatures bake the moisture from the ground.\u00a0 It is also important to note increasing areas of Abnormally Dry Conditions down in Deep South Texas.\u00a0\u00a0 We hope to see moderate rainfall amounts for those of us still in drought, especially in the Panhandle and along\/East of I-35, and a break from rain for those in the Hill Country areas.
\n\"\"<\/a>
\nHurricane Season<\/strong>
\nLast week we got our first true taste of the Tropical Weather Season.\u00a0 Tropical Storm Bertha gave some Texans a scare when its track took a southward shift and hung out over warm Gulf Waters.\u00a0 Luckily, it did not carry any major impacts to Texas, but it served as a wake-up call for all of us that we are still in Hurricane Season and to check our Hurricane Preparedness Plan.\u00a0 Hurricane Season in Texas is officially June 1st<\/sup> through November 30th<\/sup>.\u00a0 The US has seen hurricanes on either side of those dates.\u00a0 For us, our hurricanes come from the Atlantic Basin.\u00a0 Hurricanes in the Gulf are also categorized under the Atlantic Basin Title.\u00a0 This area sees hurricanes throughout the entirety of hurricane season, but we are more likely to experience these between August 1st and\u00a0November 15th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Our waters warm all through the summer and become energy powerhouses for anything that forms in the early fall.\u00a0 Texas has seen some of its worst storms in the early fall, such as Hurricane Harvey in 2017.\u00a0 Make a plan, stay informed, and stay prepared for Hurricanes and any disaster.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nResources and References<\/strong>
\n*https:\/\/www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov\/
\n*https:\/\/www.drought.gov\/states\/texas<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

West Texas Rangelands would like to extend our gratitude to Mr. Luke Drosche for collaborating with us and providing this weather update for our readers.\u00a0 We thank him for sharing his time, talents, and knowledge with us as a guest contributor.\u00a0 Luke serves with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service as a Disaster Assessment and Recovery… Read More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2384,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[113,152,159,155],"tags":[225,227,226,196,90],"class_list":["post-3265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-drought-management","category-el-nino","category-la-nina","category-weather","tag-hurricaneseason","tag-percipitation","tag-temperature","tag-weather","tag-drought","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEarly Fall Outlook Points to Heat, Fire Risk, and Continued Drought Concerns - West Texas Rangelands<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/early-fall-outlook-points-to-heat-fire-risk-and-continued-drought-concerns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Early Fall Outlook Points to Heat, Fire Risk, and Continued Drought Concerns - West Texas Rangelands\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"West Texas Rangelands would like to extend our gratitude to Mr. Luke Drosche for collaborating with us and providing this weather update for our readers.\u00a0 We thank him for sharing his time, talents, and knowledge with us as a guest contributor.\u00a0 Luke serves with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service as a Disaster Assessment and Recovery... 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