It’s a Flood, Dam It! Identifying the End of Texas Drought John W. Nielsen-Gammon Texas State Climatologist D. Brent McRoberts Department of Atmospheric Sciences
High-Resolution Drought Monitor Daily Stage 4 Precipitation Analysis (NWS’s River Forecast Centers) Historical COOP observations PRISM climate normals Improved drought metrics
High-Resolution Drought Monitor Phase 1: Texas Prototype Phase 2: National Application (USDA) Phase 3: From Experimental to Operational (NOAA)
Texas Drought, Phase 2 information SPI Blend: SPI calculated from a range of accumulation intervals instead of a single accumulation interval Minimum SPI blend: Lowest SPI value from blends ranging from 2 months to 2 years –Shows “worst” of short- & long-term conditions
Texas Water Storage Current Value Value when PDSI went positive Start of Drought
Lake Arrowhead
Palo Pinto Reservoir
Medina Lake
In Progress Phase 3: Removing radar-caused errors and artifacts from Stage 4 precip –Beam blockage –Range-dependence Overshooting Melting level Beam filling –Rainfall estimation biases
Future Validation Testing as NLDAS-2 input
Contact Information