AUSTIN (KXAN) — For many locations in Central Texas, the rain in May came and kept coming. For others, like Austin, the rain total was less than normal.
May is the wettest month, on average, in Austin with 5.04″. It looked promising that the month would end above normal when, by May 15, 3.30″ had been measured.
But the second half of the month was not nearly as wet with just 1.00″ from the 19th through the 29th to end the month below normal at 4.30″.
By contrast, there were several rain gauges in the Hill Country where totals exceeded that 5.04″ topped by 11.16″ at a gauge 3 miles north-northeast of Mason. Rain was plentiful in Blanco County with a total of 8.31″ at North Grape Creek near Johnson City.
One of the gauges many look at is the one at the Pedernales River near Fredericksburg. Water from the Pedernales flows into Lake Travis. That gauge was above normal, but barely, with a total of 5.20″.
The higher-than-normal rains in the Hill Country did not make a significant dent in the drought. The drought was exceptional over much of Blanco and Gillespie Counties to start May. By May 31, there was only a slight easing of the drought in Blanco County with the southern part of the county “upgraded” from exceptional to extreme (category 3 out of 4).
But there was still a small section in southwestern Gillespie County that was still exceptional (4 out of 4) southwest of Fredericksburg to south of Harper.
The drought went away for most sections along and east of Interstate 35. A total of 9.47″ of wonderful rain accumulated at the gauge at the Colorado River at La Grange, followed by 8.10″ at Buckners Creek near Muldoon.
The first half of May found most highs above normal. The second half had more afternoon maximums below normal although not by much. All in all, May’s average highs and lows averaged out to 76.9°, one-tenth of a degree above normal.
The one good thing about May’s temperatures is that there were no 100s!
June starts the hot time of the year with an average temperature of 83°, making it the third warmest month of the year. June’s numbers from one year ago contributed to the extremely hot summer with all but one day where the high was above normal and 21 days where the maximum high was at or above 100°. There were nine record highs set last June.
The Climate Prediction Center did an update to its forecast for the sixth month of the year. Halfway though May they predicted above normal highs for most of the southern part of Central Texas.
Rain was first forecast to be near normal but the update on May 31st indicated more promise that there could be more than the average of 3.68″.
Here are a few facts about June:
