And we’re gonna be in trouble if it doesn’t rain soon.
Since the middle of August, the city has gotten just a foot of rain over a time period when it should get twice that.
We also have recorded six straight months of below-normal rainfall. And despite last Sunday’s splash of rain, March is likely to make it seven.
Because the lower rain totals have been registered during the coolest time of the year, the effects haven’t been deeply felt, but that could change soon as early spring turns to early summer.
“May and June are typically very wet months,” said John Nielsen-Gammon, a Texas A&M University professor and the state climatologist. “On one hand you can make up for a lot of drought during those months. On the other hand, if you don’t make up for it you can be in real trouble come summertime.”
The first eight months of 2012 were wet enough to reset the drought clock, as Nielsen-Gammon says. Outside of an almost-normal January, the past few months have been anything but wet. We’d better hope that turns around soon, and we’d better be prepared to start using less water now, before it becomes a problem.