Central Texas can expect a brief dip in temperatures over the weekend behind a Saturday cold front, but no rain for the rest of the month.
The National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio issued a bulletin about next week’s forecast early Thursday morning. According to the forecast, warm temperatures will continue through Friday before a cold front brings temperatures down into the 70s and low 80s.
Those cooler temperatures won’t last long. Highs will jump back into the mid 80s and 90s by early next week. Continued dryness and breezy winds at times over the next few days will result in elevated fire weather concern.
This Drought Information Statement for South Central Texas from March 5 shows that exceptional drought conditions returned to parts of the area for the first time since late October.
Streamflows continue to trend lower with nearly all watersheds reporting less than normal percentiles, and NWS doesn’t expect conditions to improve over the next three months due to warmer than normal weather.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, approximately 18.2 million Texas residents are living in areas of drought, which is up .3% since last week.
Last month was the 19th driest February on record since the state started keeping statistics in 1895. The state saw .64 inches of total precipitation that month, which is .96 inches less than normal.
Additionally, this January-February was the 21st driest on record since 1895. The state saw 1.7 inches of total precipitation, which is 1.38 inches less than normal.