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Texas Drought? El Niño to the Rescue

Avatar for Jim.Robinson By Jim.Robinson|July 29, 2009

An El Nino climate pattern to the Pacific Ocean is believed to be relieving the worst Texas drought in 90 years.

El Nino is characterized by warming waters in the Pacific, and moisture is drawn inland. A La Nina is a cooling in the Pacific and does just the opposite, drawing moisture away.

Rain during the winter months helps Texas crops because the soil holds the moisture until planting in the spring, said Roger Haldenby of the Plains Cotton Growers in Lubbock. Parts of the state have been in a drought since November 2007.

The last El Nino developed during the 2006/07 crop year and helped boost Texas cotton yields to 843 pounds per acre.

“When there is a developing El Nino, in past years we’ve definitely noticed the southern part of the U.S., specifically Texas and the high plains of Texas, benefit from increased rainfall,” Haldenby said. “It’s a very important weather phenomenon for us. A wet winter from El Nino sets up the situation well for the following growing season.”

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Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:
September 26, 2011 at 3:53 pm

Where is the “little boy”? We, in the Coastal Bend (South Texas), are still in the worst drought since the early 50’s. We are deficient by 12.6″ for 2009 and by 23″ since September 2008. Less than 15,000 acres of cotton being harvested this year. Bring on the rain!

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Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:
September 26, 2011 at 3:53 pm

Good question, and I had to do more research. An El Nino is an intensification of monthly or seasonal fluctuations in the air pressure difference between Tahiti and Australia caused by warming of surface waters of the tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean. It can even affect fishing off the coast of South American. In other words, it changes the tradewinds. An El Nino seems to lessen the impact of hurricanes hitting the U.S. My uneducated guess would be that the El Nino is just beginning to move into Texas. Hopefully the upside is that you should have a mild hurricane season. But again, that’s an uneducated guess.

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Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:
December 22, 2011 at 1:43 am

Where is the “little boy”? We, in the Coastal Bend (South Texas), are still in the worst drought since the early 50’s. We are deficient by 12.6″ for 2009 and by 23″ since September 2008. Less than 15,000 acres of cotton being harvested this year. Bring on the rain!

Reply
Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:
December 22, 2011 at 1:43 am

Good question, and I had to do more research. An El Nino is an intensification of monthly or seasonal fluctuations in the air pressure difference between Tahiti and Australia caused by warming of surface waters of the tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean. It can even affect fishing off the coast of South American. In other words, it changes the tradewinds. An El Nino seems to lessen the impact of hurricanes hitting the U.S. My uneducated guess would be that the El Nino is just beginning to move into Texas. Hopefully the upside is that you should have a mild hurricane season. But again, that’s an uneducated guess.

Reply

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