Drought to continue in Southern plains, officials say – CNN.com.
Not good.
Drought to continue in Southern plains, officials say
Reply
Tag Archives: Texas
Texas Reds Steak and Grape Festival 2011
This year they changed the date to the fall in the hopes of cooler weather. October in Texas is still warm, but it’s closer to harvest. So, it should be interesting to see if the vintners present new wines or yearlings.
The Texas Reds Steak and Grape Festival is October 7-8, 2011, in Downtown Bryan, Texas.
A new twist this year: general admission is $4 or $5. They’ll have the event gated” so they know who paid and who didn’t. The rational? To make up for the revenue they’ll loose for the two days. Seriously? I find it hard to believe that the City of Bryan makes $50,000 in two days from the 5 square blocks of downtown where the event is being held. I may not go just on principle.
Texas faces worst dry spell since 1895
Texas drought 2011-09-11
Texas isn’t the only place affected by heat and drought.
August was yet another busy month for global weather extremes. Highlights included record-busting heat and drought (again) in the south-central portions of the U.S.A. The climatological summer of June-August was the 2nd warmest since accurate measurements began in 1895. An intense heat wave also affected southern Europe in mid-month. Severe tropical storms lashed the eastern seaboard of the USA (Irene) and the Philippines and Japan. Torrential rains caused devastating flooding and landslides in Nigeria and Uganda. But the 2nd most important extreme weather story (2nd to the USA heat wave and drought) was the record cold wave and blizzard that hit New Zealand on August 14-15. Source: Weather Extremes : August 2011 Global Weather Extremes Summary : Weather Underground.
This drought and summer-heat is still going, and may continue until summer 2012. It did cool off last week though – lows in the mid-50′s, highs in the low 90′s – but we’ve only seen 1 inch of rain since August 1. That cool off is 2 weeks ahead of schedule. Usually we have a cool spell during the 3rd week of September.
Since January 1, state and local firefighters and crews from across the country have battled 18,887 wildfires over more than 3.5 million acres in Texas, according to state officials. Source: More wildfires erupt in Texas as it faces worst dry spell since 1895 – CNN.com.
Back in June I reported about Global Weirding and the number of counties in exceptional drought. Well, as expected, the trend continued into September. As of September 6, 81% of counties are in exceptional drought – the worst on the Drought Monitor’s scale.
See how fast wildfire spreads – Texas Parks and Wildlife
Sad days for Texas education, public services
This practice is reverberating around the country. As good as Texas is, as well as it weathered the recession, public services are not immune to budget cuts.
The Texas Education Agency is laying off 178 employees this week as part of budget cuts ordered by the state Legislature. via KBTX Texas Education Agency to Lay Off 178 Employees.
The Texas Legislature had to cut something, unfortunately education was a big looser when the budget was finalized.
Media is reporting many local job cuts. College Station is cutting 27 positions. Bryan is cutting 20 jobs. Texas A&M already cut more than 150 jobs and more may be on the way.
“This Legislature will go down in the history books as the worst for public education in a generation,” said Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio. “Now it’s time for legislators to go home and explain to their communities why they voted for or against these historic education cuts. via The Three Way Attack on Texas Public Education; Part One: Fiscal Responsibility « Education in Texas.
Rain
This is worth mentioning for future reference – we got about 2 inches of rain yesterday night. That’s the first time since May 23 that we’ve seen rain, and January since we’ve seen more than an inch.
Global Weirding Serves Texas Worst Drought Since Dust Bowl
Almost two years after the drought of 2009, Texas is worse off than ever before. This summer, there are almost 4 times as many counties experiencing “exceptional” drought than in 2009 and almost 2 times as many than in 2006.
Just how hot is it? On May 25 – 27 days before the start of summer – we reached 100° F in Brazos county! If that’s a trend, I expect 45 – 60 days of 100+ degree days this summer. That is insane hot!
To our relief, it has rained and we got maybe 1/2 inch the last two nights. That will probably prolong the grass’ life another week or two. Check back in September, Texas might be in Dust Bowl 2.0. Meanwhile, crops and livestock are holding on for dear life.
To compound the trouble – or as a result of drought – Texas has experienced the worst fires ever too. More than 2 million acres have burned and it is only June – we have at least 90 days of dry, hot conditions ahead.
The tinder-dry conditions in Texas have spawned thousands of wildfires that have killed two firefighters, scorched about 2.3 million acres and destroyed about 400 homes since November. Source: Severe drought in Texas worst in map’s history | Star-Telegram
Extra $1.2B found for Texas budget
No surprises – yet – but hearing that education is the highest expense is not good news for a college town.
Lawmakers battling the multibillion-dollar shortfall have agreed on all major parts of the budget except education. House and Senate negotiators are working to craft a compromise version of each chamber’s proposal. So far, they’ve agreed to all parts of the budget except the portion that funds public and higher education, Texas’ biggest expense. Source: Extra $1.2B found for Texas budget | Bryan/College Station, Texas – The Eagle.
That extra money comes from increases in sales tax collections, oil production tax, and motor vehicle sales tax. I also think property taxes are helping. The city pushed mine up 20%! I plan to protest, but I need to do it soon. The deadline to protest is June 1.
Most of the higher revenue estimate comes from a dramatic rise in sales tax receipts over the last year. The high price of oil also has helped fill the state coffers. Source: Extra $1.2B found for Texas budget | Bryan/College Station, Texas – The Eagle.
The Hammer Falls on Texas Budget
So, we knew it was going to be bad before we elected this legislature, and here it is, the hammer driving the first nail in the coffin that is the Texas budget.
Public schools, college students, Medicaid hammered in Texas House budget plan
AUSTIN – Texas would slash support for public schools, cut at least 60,000 college students from financial aid and decrease Medicaid fees by 10 percent to doctors, nursing homes and hospitals under a budget plan that House leaders unveiled late Tuesday. Source: Dallas Morning News
Mark these words…
No taxes would be increased, as GOP leaders have pledged. Nor would the state tap any of $9.4 billion in the state’s rainy-day fund.
I’ll hold on to that quote so I can pull it out when cigarette taxes or gas taxes go up.
This article goes on to articulate cut after cut. Legislators have until May to finalize the bi-annual budget, and I think it’s going to be a very lean 2012-13. Don’t forget we have to pay forward the debt of 2010-11. Those cuts are still being felt. Also, remember we are in a supermajority so there is a 99% chance of passing whatever lands in the budget.
Texas House Republican Supermajority [UPDATED]
The Republicans will have a “supermajority” in the Texas House when the new session starts January 11, 2011 (01/11/11).
The new Republican House members are expected to give the GOP 101 seats in the lower chamber in the 2011 Legislature, a number that will allow the party to exercise power not seen in the House since the early 1980s, when the Democrats had more than 100 of the 150 seats.
With a supermajority, House Republicans will be able to conduct business and approve constitutional amendments without Democratic support.
Soruce: Dallas Morning News | Second Democrat in Texas House announces switch to GOP.
What does this mean for the Texas Constitution or the bi-annual, balanced budget in Texas? It means the Republicans have carte blanche to amend the Constitution, raise taxes and slash the budget.
This is a perfect storm. The Democrats lost the majority of the U.S. Congress which means few things will change in the next two years. (Although the Senate just pasted legislation extending tax-cuts and unemployment benefits.) I expect Texas taxes will go up and the budget (jobs) to be cut. Then, in 2013, the trend will continue at the federal level.
I just wrote about La Niña and the drought Texas faces from that. Now it appears we are headed for an economic drought as well. I wonder if there is a connection?
UPDATE:
How will the federal tax cuts affect you? As promised the next 24 months (or two tax seasons) will remain at current levels. This may sound like an early Christmas present or simply a good thing, but look closer, it reads like the fine print of a credit-card offer: no interest ’till 2013. By then we may be out of the “economic ENSO cycle”, but be prepared to pay more for this tax cut than we would have originally. On the flip side, Obama probably doesn’t care too much because in 24 months he’ll be packing his things.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Now that Congress has passed the Tax Hike Prevention Act of 2010, it will be sent to President Obama for his signature. And taxpayers will have some certainty about their tax situation, if only for the next 24 months. Source: CNN.com | Tax cut deal: How it affects you
Texas Winter Drought 2010-11 from La Niña
Back in July of 2009 I wrote about how one of the worst droughts in Texas was worsening.
Now it’s December, 2010, and we are staring down the barrel of another (winter) drought - one of the worst.
The U.S. Drought Monitor on Thursday indicated 85 percent of Texas is between abnormally dry and in extreme drought, compared to about 29 percent a year ago. Source: KBTX.com | Experts Fear Texas Heading Into Another Severe Drought
I appears to be the effects of La Niña.
La Niña causes mostly the opposite effects of El Niño. La Niña causes above average precipitation across the North Midwest, the Northern Rockies, Northern California, and in the Pacific Northwest’s southern and eastern regions. Meanwhile there is below average precipitation in the southwestern and southeastern states. Source: Wikipedia | El Niño-Southern Oscillation and NOAA.gov | ENSO Diagnostic Discussion
This certainly appears to be true. For the past week – 2 weeks before winter – the North Midwest (Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo) has been buried by snow.