AUSTIN, Texas — It's the first Thursday in September and the latest drought monitor shows that we've improved not only in Central Texas, where portions of the Hill Country are no longer in a drought, but we're also seeing a statewide improvement in drought conditions.
The Hill Country's lack of drought designation is part of an 11% increase in such areas across Texas. While "abnormally dry" conditions statewide dropped by that same percentage, areas in "moderate" drought saw an even greater decline, which was about 13%.
Even the "exceptional" drought out in West Texas saw a decline, although it was less than 1%, progress was still made.
A major reason this took place is that we had some areas pick up a lot of rain over the Labor Day Weekend. However, a lot of the heaviest rain this past week was on Tuesday, which was past the cutoff point of 7 a.m.
Thus, we still might have more in terms of drought improvements as we head into next week's monitor, and judging by the seven-day forecast, we could have more rain where that came from due to a tropical area of low pressure sitting in the Gulf of Mexico.
Some areas of Llano County, which is already out of the drought, had radar estimates of up to six inches of rain, which resulted in the closure of local schools for the day Wednesday due to the resulting flooding.
Stick with KVUE as we continue to track your forecast as the Texas Drought seemingly nears its end.
Your seven-day outlook is below.
