SAN ANTONIO — In Texas the worsening drought, dry vegetation and ongoing wildfires are a few things that have resulted from abnormally dry conditions. As San Antonio nears the end of July 2022 unless more rain comes by the end of the year we could be observing one of the driest years on record.
Given records that date back to the 1880s, most years in San Antonio reach over 13" by late July. With only about 5" of rain picked up at San Antonio International, 2022 ranks last in "Year-to-Date" rainfall leaving us extremely behind.
Other Texas cities such as Del Rio and Laredo are also observing a huge deficit in annual rainfall. Del Rio is around 7" below the yearly average but San Antonio is over a foot behind schedule.
The only month San Antonio made average rainfall was in February but other usually rainy months such as May and June have been at least two inches below average. The months of September and October in San Antonio usually average more than three inches so fingers crossed our dry pattern doesn't continue.
San Antonio has more than five months left in the year but we would need to receive at least 27 inches of rainfall to make our average.
Drought update
Based on the latest drought report released July 21, around 95 percent of the state is now under drought with over 20 percent considered Exceptional Drought.
Over a decade ago, in July 2011, 72 percent of Texas was under Exceptional Drought with almost 100% of the state at Moderate Drought or worse.
Burn bans
The lack of rainfall has also resulted in widespread burn bans with the exception of Webb and McMullen counties, other counties in orange are under a burn ban.
Check with your county on the latest burn ban information as dry vegetation and worsening drought will contribute to daily threats for fire weather.
