Big changes to the drought in recent weeks

AUSTIN (KXAN) — An active pattern has brought significant improvements to our ongoing drought in Central Texas.

Since the start of April through June 27, Austin’s Camp Mabry picked up 16.01″ of rain. The last time Austin accumulated that much rain during the same time period was in 2019, when 18.36″ was recorded.

Drought Monitor

Drought statistics will be calculated by observing the Austin/San Antonio NWS WFO area, which includes 33 counties.

As of Thursday, which was the most recent drought monitor update, 44.17% of the area is in at least a level 1 of 4 “moderate” drought.

Sounds high? Well, three months ago, on March 24, 88.96% of the area was in at least that drought category. That’s a major improvement since our active weather pattern began.

What’s next?

The rain has definitely helped, but will the drought ever end? It’s unlikely, at least for now.

So how much rain needs to fall to end it? According to NOAA’s Drought Termination and Amelioration website, we’d need to see roughly an additional 12″ to 18″ of rain to fall in Central Texas in one month to end the drought.