The latest drought update was released this morning, as it is every Thursday. There is some good news and bad news to report. The worst is that the severe drought has been extended to include all of Swisher, Floyd, Lubbock, Crosby and Garza Counties. Swisher County has had the extreme drought removed, but that extreme drought still remains in Briscoe County. The tan color indicates the moderate drought that still covers a large portion of our area. Obviously, this is not what we want to see. Lubbock is still in a surplus of precipitation for the year and we're going to need more rain to hold on to that.
Rain is forecast to begin this afternoon/evening across west Texas, with pockets of heavy rain possible. The above photo is the high resolution forecast. It is showing thunderstorms ongoing by 1:00-2:00 pm along the state line, then spreading east. This is the forecast radar for 6:00 pm this evening (Thursday). The forecast is calling for several rounds of scattered thunderstorms to impact the region over the next three days. With so many rounds of storms in the forecast, flash flooding can not be ruled out. Remember to be careful driving out there and watch for other vehicles.
We have 30% coverage for storms today, tomorrow and Saturday, which is indicating the scattered nature of these storms. There is still uncertainty on rainfall amounts, but isolated amounts of over an inch are certainly possible. In fact, the forecast precipitation totals below are showing several locations receiving near, or more than an inch through Saturday evening. That is great in terms of rain totals but will cause flooding and obvious issues with high school football games this week. Stay safe and do not drive through flooded roads!
