The Oct. 13 Texas Water Development Board’s (TWDB) drought report described that 49 percent of the Lone Star State is currently in moderate to exceptional drought, up from 70 percent a year ago.
As a result of ongoing drought conditions, statewide reservoirs’ storage are at 160,000 acre-feet—only 4 percentage points higher than last year—but still 15 percentage points lower than normal. State reservoirs are collectively about 63 percent full, according to TWDB.
The El Niño Southern Oscillation forecast by the Climate Prediction Center suggests a two-in-three chance of weak El Niño conditions developing between November and January, with conditions extending into the spring.
El Niño conditions generally bring cooler and wetter weather to Texas.