Anyone with a garden in Houston knows just how stingy the skies have been this spring. According to the Houston/Galveston National Weather Service office, the period from mid-February to April 17 has been the driest in Houston climate records dating back to 1850. The .91 inch total beat out 1925’s 1.05 inches during a season that is traditionally one of Houston’s wetter periods.

Heat is compounding the lack of moisture. During the same period, we set an all-time record for highest average temperature at 68.3 degrees, well in excess of the 67.5 set in 1908 and 1925. We also set the record for highest average maximum temperature at 79, a full degree warmer than 1908. –  Praying for rain: Whatever happened to spring showers? | Editorial | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

Driving around our piece of the world right now looks like driving in the heat of August. Brown grasses line the highways and byways. Black patches are becoming prevalent where idiot motorists have discarded cigarettes out their windows. It all looks surreal when viewed up against the spring green color of the trees and shrubs.

I cannot remember a time when there have been so much overcast moving so far inland to start dropping rain. At the rate we are going, the center of the country is headed for some record rains and floods this season.

Related articles

• Drought continues to worsen in Houston region (chron.com)
• Is This What Climate Change May Look Like? (coffeemuses.com)
• 98 percent of Texas stuck in a drought (chron.com)
• In Texas, Questions of Drought and Climate Change (green.blogs.nytimes.com)