While the Eastern US is feeling the effects of Hurricane Irene, we are baking in the southern tier. Granted, I am unsure of the moisture of the soil for the East Coast, but the drought here in Texas lingers on; nearly 78% of the state is in the most extreme classification of drought, up from 44% only three months ago. A total of 251 of Texas' 254 counties (98.82%) are under burn bans in some form or another. The counties not under the ban are Zapata, Willacy, and Jefferson. The northeastern quarter of Jack County also is not.

List of 100 degree days in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana

Dallas hit their 61st day over the 100 mark today.

It's not that hot here, but it's pretty darn dry. In the last fifteen years or so, what used to be normal precipitation now looks like a wet year - we are definitely getting drier.

It's all part of the plan to mummify Texas. The secret is that Mexicans are fearful of mummies, so a homebred supply of them will save the need to build a fence at the border.

Today we had 106º Farenheit (41.1º C) for a high. It's just about 9:30 p.m. and it is down to 98º (36.6º C). As for me, just a county over from DG Dave, I am heartily tired of this heat. With luck, we MAY have a high in the upper 90's by the end of next week. It's sort of sad to be cheering 99º.... We will probably just miss the all time record (69 days) of temperatures over 100º F in one year.

A level 2 water emergency has been declared where I live (Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex) and we will be able to water lawns only 2 times a week. Not sure about the county that DG Dave lives in. That will spell disaster for anyone who put a new lawn in this year. As it is, I water 3 times a week and still have some areas where it is dying. It takes a lot of water in this heat to keep a lawn green and I believe many people have taken steps already to cut back. And, it's not just humans that feel the lack of rain: animals

Added to the heat and arid conditions, we are under the threat of black outs as long as we are getting these hot days. Luckily this year we have endured only one forced black out. I think many people have curbed their use of electricity - after all, we don't want to be without our Fun Trivia fix.

Yeah, I can attest to that, and like Jar, I am quite tired of this heat wave. One other record she did not mention is that we missed the longest consecutive streak by only two (42 in 1980 and 40 this year). These are also the only two years we have seen 100º or more a minimum of 60 times.



Certain parts of the county are under level 2 restrictions (watering twice a week), but I'm not one of them yet.



I haven't had one yet here, but the threat has been there most of the summer. The county Jar is in has had stricter guidelines. For the record, we shattered our old record of most days with a low temperature over 80ºF, which was 39 in 1998; we have had 50 such days so far this year.

We had a lot of water in the spring and early summer. It's been dry for the last month or so but we're getting short showers again. There were years when the irrigation water would be gone by early July, but the last two years we've had it into September. Parts of southern Colorado are still in a drought but we are pretty good in the north part.

They should postumously change the name of Hurricane Irene to Hurricane Irain!

Just to update from last week's numbers, Texas's exceptional drought category went up to 81% of the state, while 99% is in at least level 2 (severe drought) and 95% in the extreme category.

I know all too well how devastating droughts can be. Presumably there is farmland affected by the drought? What kind of things are farmed .. crops or stock? How are they fairing up? Has there been previous good seasons that means they can make it through or has it been coming for a while?
I've always thought Texas to be similar to my area and we are classed as semi-arid.

Depends on the area of Texas. Near Beaumont and Port Arthur, as well as most of the Gulf Coast is fairly damp (Beaumont averages about 60" [152.4cm] of rain a year and Midland averages 14.6" [37.08cm]), while western Texas is dry. Not long ago, Midland received 0.36" (0.91cm) of rain and had doubled what they'd received over the previous ten months! (0.18" or 0.45cm) Story here

Throwing out last September's rain from this page, which was mainly Tropical Storm Hermine, Dallas has had 21.6" (54.86cm) of rain. We average 36.14" (91.80cm) of rain annually in Dallas, taken from this page.

Just imagine the future when all the oil and gas is gone, their pipelines could be used to move water around the country! Come to think about it, the natural gas lines could be used for water now! Gas goes uphill under pressure while the water flows down by gravity. Top half of the pipe to gas, bottom half for water. You'd have to reduce the gas pressure for the time of dual use, but hey, more bang for the buck...

We could use those pipes for water! As of the new drought monitor, almost 88% of the state is in exceptional drought, with almost 97% in severe drought.

There are five categories ranging from D0 to D4, with D4 attributed as the worst.

Percent of the state only in D0: 0.00% (100% of the state is in/past this one)
Percent of the state only in D1: 0.83% (100%)
Percent of the state only in D2: 2.42% (99.17%)
Percent of the state only in D3: 8.92% (96.75%)
Percent of the state only in D4: 87.83%

To determine how many square miles, multiply by 268,581. For example, 235,894.7 square miles of the state is in exceptional drought.