We finally got a bit of rain in September! We saw 0.1 inches on the 16th and again on the 23rd. We had 0.3 inches on the 29th for a total of 0.5 inches for the month.

The last time we had rain was June 22nd. It was nice to get even a little bit.

We are now three quarters through the year and unless we receive unprecedented amounts in the last quarter, it’s going to be a very bad year. We’ve received 8.6 inches so far.

Our annual average in this part of Texas is about 30 inches. Last year was wet though, and we received 43.1 inches.

Here are the last few years:

2007 – 28.2 (incomplete, didn’t start recording until May)
2008 – 16.4
2009 – 36.7
2010 – 43.1
2011 – 8.6 (three quarters)

Here’s the 2011 Monthly Rainfall at our house.

I posted monthly rainfall charts for prior years here.

I’m hearing the drought will continue at least through next year and perhaps longer. A drought has several definitions. The most common one is “a period of below average rainfall”.

I try to remind myself that being in a drought doesn’t mean that it won’t rain, just that it won’t rain as much as average. It doesn’t help much, especially when the effects are so visible.