2021 Drought Monitor: Montgomery County In Good Spot

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX — As summer draws near, Montgomery County and most of Texas have had plenty of rain the last couple months, but dozens of other areas could benefit from a little less sunshine and a little more rain this week.

For the week ending June 8, 30 U.S. states were experiencing drought conditions described as moderate or worse, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In the West Texas near the Rio Grande River, drought conditions range from severe to exceptional drought, the highest designation given by the NOAA. There also are areas of slight to moderate drought in the western parts of the panhandle.

Montgomery County is not among the affected areas as there are no drought conditions listed, according to the latest weekly report released June 8 by the National Drought Mitigation Center.

Nationally, over 61 percent of the United States was experiencing some type of drought for the week ending June 8, according to the latest NOAA data.

The worst areas of drought are in Southwest states, where parts of California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado are experiencing extreme or exceptionally severe drought conditions, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center.

So what exactly is drought?

Drought is defined as a lack of precipitation such as rain, snow or sleet over a period that typically results in a water shortage. While drought usually stems from an area’s specific weather pattern, it can also be triggered by human activity such as water use and management.

Behind hurricanes, drought is the second-most-costly form of natural disaster in the United States, exacting an average toll of $9.6 billion in damage and loss per event, according to statistics from the National Centers for Environmental Information.

Usually, some level of drought has some part of the country in its grip.

During the historic dry spell of 2012 — the nation’s most extensive since the 1930s — as much as two-thirds of the country was affected by drought at its peak.

U.S. droughts can sometimes last longer than a season. From 2012 to 2016, scant rainfall and record-breaking heat in California created what is estimated to have been the state’s worst drought in 1,200 years, according to the National Resources Defense Council.

Fortunately for everyone, water is a renewable resource that moves in a cycle with neither a beginning nor an end. Typically, the United States receives enough precipitation during an average year to cover the states in a depth of about 30 inches.

But when it does rain, what happens to water when it reaches the ground?

About 70 percent of the annual precipitation returns to the atmosphere by evaporation from land and water surfaces and by vapor from vegetation. The remaining 30 percent eventually reaches a stream, lake or ocean due to runoff during and immediately after rain, as well as soaking into the ground.

If you’ve ever wondered where a raindrop ends up when it falls in Montgomery County, check out this interactive map developed by data analyst Sam Learner that traces the path of a raindrop depending on where it falls.