In other weather news...

I've been so preoccupied with the cold lately, that I haven't given much thought to rain. We've had a lot of cold, dry spells where the air felt freeze-dried, and we've had a few sudden bursts of precipitation. What does it all add up to?

From the U.S. Drought Monitor for 8 Feb. 2011

Apparently, at least here in Bastrop County (blue X above), it adds up to a "moderate drought" (the tan patches on the map). Ditto for Travis and Williamson.

As a side note, does it seem like 33 months out of every 36 we're in a drought here in Central Texas? Maybe we should stop thinking of this as a place that gets rain. Maybe we should move into biodomes, like colonists on Mars, and recycle all our bodily waste. That way, we won't be disappointed by the lack of precipitation. It's not drought, we'll say to each other; that's just the way it is. It never rains here.

So when's this moderate drought going to break? I checked in with the good folks at the NOAA's Seasonal Drought Outlook, and their website said, "Dear Texas: It never rains here. Go build a biodome."

No, not really. They just posted this infographic:

Drought outlook for 3 Feb - 11 Apr, 2011.

So. Time to fix that irrigation pipe that froze last week and think about turning some of those sprinklers back on. It's going to be a parched and dusty spring.