by Jeff Masters, wunderblog, May 10, 2011
April 2011 was the 5th driest and 5th hottest April in Texas history, going back 117 years. Exceptionally dry conditions have parched the soil and vegetation in Texas, which recorded precipitation of just 1.68 inches (43 mm), on average, since February 1st. This is easily its driest February-April period on record for the state, nearly an inch less than the previous record (2.56 inches or 65 mm, February-April 1996). The six-month period November 2010/April 2011 was the 2nd driest such period on record. Based on the U.S. Drought Monitor, 94% of Texas is in severe to exceptional drought.
As a result of the great drought, an all-time April record of 1.79 million acres of land burned last month in the U.S., mostly in Texas. Much of the fuel for the fires came from dried underbrush and grasses which experienced ideal growing conditions during the summer of 2010, when there was abundant rain across the region. Nation-wide, the year-to-date period, January-April, has the greatest acreage burned in history, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Figure 1. The acreage burned in U.S. wildfire in April 2011 was by far the highest in the past decade. Most of the damage was done by a few huge fires. Image credit: National Climatic Data Center.
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