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Tuesday, August 29, 2000
North Texas sets rainless record
Agricultural, livestock producers have lost $595 million this year
By Matt Curry
Associated Press
DALLAS - Thirsty North Texas seemed all but certain Monday to break a record for rainless days established during the woeful Dust Bowl years, and conditions across much of the rest of the state weren't much better.
Across much of North and West Texas, lake levels have plunged while relentless heat bakes the landscape.
In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Monday was the year's 36th day of 100-degree temperatures, the ninth most in a singl e year. The record is 69 days, set in 1980, said meteorologist Dave Martin at the National Weather Service's Fort Worth office.
The absence of rain since June 30 was expected to set a record. Not a hint of rain was in sight late Monday, and no precipitation was expected in the week to come.
"Even the long-range forecast doesn't look good," said meteorologist Mark Fox, also at the weather service's Fort Worth office.
A day without rain Monday in Dallas-Fort Worth would be the 59th straight. It would break a record first set during a 58-day stretch from May to July 1934, which were hard Dust Bowl days of the Great Depression.
Despite the dry spell, North Texas has received 21.19 inches since Jan. 1, deceptively high because of an above-average June. Average rainfall for the period is 22.31 inches.
"If it wasn't for all that rain back in June, we'd really be in a world of hurt," Fox said.
Molly Gneiting, who lives in the Fort Worth suburb of North Richland Hills, said it's too hot to take her two young children outside. The dry conditions are also taking a toll on plant life.
"We are ready for a rain. You just keep pouring water on the yard, and it keeps turning brown," she said. "Every morning I water the flowers. If I miss just once, you can tell it by the afternoon."
State agriculture department officials estimate that agricultural and livestock producers have lost $595 million this year to the dry conditions.
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