Whatever that threshold is, this has got to be pretty close to it.
Christmas came a little early for a small slice of Texas this year. We can now say that part of Texas is no longer in drought. A small part, to be sure, only 0.01 percent, but it’s happy news nonetheless.
According to new data from the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska (with a grateful hat tip to Kate Galbraith of the Texas Tribune), a sliver of Texas along the Texas-Oklahoma border is officially drought-free. Just east of Paris, Texas, 3.7 percent of Red River County is no longer in drought, representing 0.01 percent of the entire state.
At the beginning of the year, nearly 8 percent of the state wasn’t in drought and none of Texas was at the “exceptional” level of drought. Today, nearly 39 percent of Texas is at the “exceptional” level, the most severe stage of drought.
3.7% of a cheer for Red River County! However, before you get your hopes up for the rest of the state, go read John Nielson-Gammon, who notes that “it’s hard to break out of a drought when you’re still setting records” for dryness. And we’re still under La Niña conditions, so expect things to continue as they have been for a few more months. Such a cheery thing to look forward to for 2012, eh?