Local cities and counties are lifting burn bans and mandatory water restrictions put in place during the summer due to a break in the dry weather from recent wet and less hot days.
“Last week’s rainfall was great. It helped out over a large chunk of the area. That doesn’t end the drought, but at least mitigates and relaxes it a bit,” Matt Lanza, meteorologist with Space City Weather, said. “The cooler temperatures help as well. You don’t have the sun searing on the ground quite as much.”
Lanza said soil moisture and drought conditions have improved, which has led some communities to return to normal operations.
This includes Missouri City, which ended all voluntary and involuntary water conservation measures on Monday, and Katy, which reverted to normal water use conditions last week after being in Stage 3 of the city’s drought contingency plan.
Galveston County ended the burn ban over the unincorporated parts of the county earlier last month.
While some restrictions are loosening, others are not. The unincorporated areas of Harris County are still under an active burn ban, while Houston and Pearland remain under Stage 2 of their drought contingency plans, which require residents to abide by outdoor watering schedules and limit unnecessary water usage.
Although some of these orders are still in effect, others are being re-evaluated amid the improved conditions.
According to Joshua Lee, director of communications for Pearland, city officials met on Monday to discuss whether they will lift the current water restrictions.
Brandi Dumas, communications manager at the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office, said Harris County commissioners will vote during Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting to end the burn ban on the county’s unincorporated areas.
Lanza said because of this year’s El Niño conditions – a recurring climate pattern that warms water in the Pacific Ocean – moisture can make its way into Texas, which increases rain chances in the fall and winter months.
Although it is Autumn, Lanza said, the region is not quite clear yet, as there is still the occasional warm-up between bouts of cooler weather.
“At some point, we should get into more active, consistently colder and wetter weather patterns across most of Texas,” he said. “Given how the summer and fall have unfolded – which is to say not necessarily typical – I think there’s some question as to when it’s officially going to kick in, whether that’s later this month, November or in December and January.”
Lanza said El Niño conditions could also affect the severity of this upcoming winter. In past winters, where the weather pattern was stronger, it minimized the amount of arctic air coming into the United States, which Texas needs to reach freezing conditions.
“In most months when Houston had the weather drop below 20 degrees, those years were not El Niño years,” he said. “They were typically La Niña years or years with neutral conditions in the Pacific – freezes have only happened a handful of times during El Niño years.”
Although this is historically what occurs, Lanza said, it is too early in the cool weather season to determine exactly how the winter weather will shake out.
With the cooler and wetter conditions, meteorologists have redirected their attention away from the Atlantic and hurricanes and toward the Pacific to continue to track cold fronts and whether or not they bring moisture pockets in the region with them.
“It could very well be a cool and wet winter here in Texas, but without a freeze,” Lanza said. “Overall, though, when it comes to the drought conditions, the worst is behind us.”
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
