Issue date: 2/19/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Nicholas Badger [Click to enlarge]

Though College Station has seen rain in recent days, Steven Quiring, a professor in the Department of Geography, said 88 percent of the state is experiencing abnormally dry conditions, and 18 percent is in either extreme or exceptional drought conditions.

He said Texas is experiencing weather conditions that only happen once or twice every 100 years.

"The conditions we are seeing right now have only been worse once, recorded in 1917-1918, so for most of us this is a record event," Quiring, who specializes in Texas weather patterns, said. "These extreme conditions only have a 1 percent or 2 percent chance of happening over about 100 years."

One of the contributing factors is whether Texas remains in La Niña or El Niño.

"La Niña and El Niño have a big influence on the weather patterns," Quiring said. "We have been in La Niña conditions for the last nine to 12 months and these conditions are associated with drier then normal conditions, particularly when storms are steered away from the southern states, including Texas, decreasing our rainfall."

Though Texas has experienced a few hurricanes during the usual season, Quiring said, only two had any impact, and neither was able to alleviate central Texas from its drought.

Right now, 168 counties in Texas have issued burn bans, and the spring forecast shows the drought will continue through at least April.

In addition to the problems associated with droughts, such as forest fires, it will affect farming, ranching and vegetation. With less rainfall, temperatures will not be as hot in the summer, causing vegetation to be less prolific.

Ranchers experience common problems, such as not having enough grass for their livestock, which forces them to sell livestock and leads to a decrease in production and profits. Farmers' crop production also suffers from the lack of rain.

Gary Briers, a professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said this spring will be tough, but it shouldn't cause anything as drastic as a shortage of food.

"This upcoming spring is going to be more onerous for us than the last four months. We have not been growing that much besides winter pasture, but when we get close to spring, it's planning season on whether we are going to get the crops to grow," Briers said.

Briers said even though central Texas may have a shortage of water and crops, it would only affect local production.

"We all just need to do a rain dance." Briers said.

Quiring said if this persists through the summer, the losses could be catastrophic, but he is not predicting that.

"We have had some rain recently, and long-term forecasts are difficult to make. It is something we need to keep an eye on, farmers and ranchers will definitely watching the forecast," he said.

"With all the modern technology today, I never thought about how important the weather is to our farming industries and food supply," said Amanda Hart, a sophomore English major. "Hopefully the rain we have been having the past couple of days can help us ease out of the drought."

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