Praying For Rain By Brooke Nevins
Standard-Radio Post Reporter
W
hile Texas is no stranger to dry spells and dusty rain gauges, drought conditions have reached extreme levels this spring as a wicked combination of high wind speeds and little rainfall have turned tall dry brush into a statesized tinderbox. The U.S. Drought Monitor estimates that as of April 26, almost 94% of the state — roughly 17 million Texans — is experiencing some level of drought. Fifty percent of the state falls under the Extreme Drought intensity category, while nearly 20 percent is in an Exceptional Drought. In this last and most dire stage, agricultural output suffers, water sources shrink and land is extremely sensitive to fire danger.
Gillespie County currently falls under both the monitor’s Extreme Drought and Exceptional Drought levels. The Office of the Texas State Climatologist’s most recent Climate Summary from April 4 reports that the county received between just 0.1-0.3 inches of rainfall at the end of March. According to Gillespie County Fire Marshal Steve Olfers, fires have plagued all parts of the county and surrounding regions and have not been concentrated in a particular area. An exceptionally windy March exacerbated the conditions.
“What has improved is a slight bit of your typical spring ‘green up,’” Olfers said. “Anything out there is trying to grow new, afresh. And humidity levels have gone up, so we’ve moved out of that really, really dangerous time into this moderate state.” But first responders are still wary. While the percentage of Texas in some level of drought dropped by two points between April 19-26, more of that land has moved into the Exceptional Drought category — including Gillespie County.
“In addition to those winds,” Olfers said, “we were extremely dry and humidity (percentage) levels were unbelievably low, to the single digits at times.”
A burn ban was issued on March 28 following several large fires in and around the county. Olfers said that people have largely adhered to the ban, which carries a $500 fine, if broken.
But late April showers have abated some fire risk locally.
“(Infractions) will happen from time to time,” the marshal said.
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I Spring/Summer 2022
