2009 Weather Summary from NOAA

Statement as of 12:15 PM CST on January 13, 2010


... 2009 weather summary...

Year 2009 was a transition year when extreme drought persisted
through August followed by more rainfall from September to December.
It was also a year when milder weather for most of the year ended
with much cooler conditions from November 30th to December 31st.

The winter of 2009 was very dry and mild for a winter setting.
December 2008 to February 2009 was a tie for the 7th warmest winter
period for San Antonio with 1922 to 1923 and 2005 to 2006... the 8th
warmest at Austin... and the 13th warmest at del Rio. In January 2009
a brief winter precipitation event came the night of January 27th to
the early morning of January 28... 2009... in a similar pattern to the
December 9th to early morning of December 10... 2008 event. In
February a severe weather event came the evening of February 9th
to the early morning of February 10th... 2009... when severe
thunderstorms brought hail and strong winds.

As the storm track came further south in March of 2009... more rainfall
developed from March 10th to March 31st. Beneficial rains fell from
March 11th to the morning of March 15th... as a cold front stalled
across the region. Some places received more rain from this event
than in the total 6 month period from September 2008 to February
2009. A stretch of colder than usual weather came during the day of
March 11th and continued to the 14th.

In late March of 2009 several severe weather events affected the
area... bringing strong winds and hail... from showers and
thunderstorms on March 25... March 26... and March 31... 2009.
As April came the first half of the month was more like fall and
winter... with fast moving cold fronts... bringing several days of
below normal temperatures... and a few windy days. The windiest day
came April 2nd... when winds gusted to between 40 and 50 mph. The
second half of April brought more rain and severe weather events.
More rain with showers and thunderstorms came during the day of
April 17th and again on the 18th... with very heavy rains over the
East Part of south central Texas... where flooding occurred. Some
areas over the East Part of south central Texas in Lavaca...
Fayette... and eastern Gonzales counties received between 15 and 20
inches of rain rom April 17th to the 18th. This heavy rain event
ended on Saturday afternoon April 18th.

As may began... very warm Summer like conditions persisted in the
early part of the month. Del Rio experienced the warmest day of the
year... when the high was 107 on may 6th... and Uvalde had 108 on may
8th. Beneficial rains came with showers and thunderstorms along a
strong cold front on may 16th... that left several pleasant days from
may 17th to the 21st. Warmer weather returned in late May.

June of 2009 was dry for a June setting. A severe weather event came
June 11th... when showers and thunderstorms moved across Llano...
Burnet... Williamson and Travis counties... producing strong winds and
hail. Another Summer severe weather event came July 30th... when
a line of thunderstorms brought high wind gusts to south central
Texas. The pace of hot days picked up in June 2009 and continued
throughout the Summer. The Summer of 2009 was the hottest Summer of
record for Austin... del Rio... and San Antonio. July 2009 was the
warmest July and overall month on record at Austin Mabry and at
San Antonio. July 2009 was the 3rd warmest July at del Rio. August
2009 was the warmest August at Austin Mabry. August 2009 tied with
2006 for the warmest August at San Antonio... while at del Rio August
2009 was the 2nd warmest August. The most 100 degree days for the
year came to Austin Bergstrom... 55 100 degree days... and at San
Antonio... with 59 100 degree days. Austin Mabry with 68 100 degree
days in 2009 had the 2nd most 100 degree days in a year... while
del Rio with 65 100 degree days had the 4th most 100 degree days for
a year in 2009.

August 2009 ended a very dry 2 year period for the area. The driest
non-overlapping 2 year period of record from September 2007 to
August 2009 was observed at San Antonio... with only 24.83 inches of
rain... far below the 2nd driest of 30.23 inches from August 1954 to
July 1956 and 3rd driest of 30.41 inches 100 years ago from October
1908 to September 1910. At Austin Mabry it was the 3rd driest
non-overlapping 2 year period of record with 35.23 inches of
rain... after the driest 2 year non-overlapping period of 33.87
inches from October 1916 to September 1918 and 33.96 inches from
January 1954 to December 1955.

When September and October came... rainfall amounts jumped
significantly. A wetter weather pattern emerged September 4th and
continued for the rest of the year... improving drought conditions.
The most rain fell in September and October. This brought several
brief flash flood events. A few September flash flood events
occurred. The heaviest rain came on Friday September 11th to
Saturday September 12th... when 19.42 inches of rain fell near
Jarrell in Williamson country. Another flash flood event came in
early October. The heavy rains of 5.42 inches at San Antonio on
October 4th was the 14th wettest calendar day of record at
San Antonio. On the afternoon of October 21st to the night of
October 21st and early morning of October 22nd... heavy rains fell
over parts of Burnet County... eastern Llano County and over northern
Blanco County. This left 6 to 9 inches of rain. The fall of 2009
was the 5th wettest September to November at San Antonio since
1871... the 12th wettest at Austin since 1856... and the 54th wettest
at del Rio since 1906. Most of the rain in the fall came in
September and October... followed by a few days of heavy rain in
November. The faster pace of weather systems in December caused
rainfall amounts to decrease from what was observed in the fall.

After mild weather for most of November... much colder conditions
came the night of Sunday... November 29th to Monday November 30th.
The colder than usual conditions persisted through most of December
2009. December 2009 tied for the 15th coolest December at Austin
Mabry with December 1865 since 1854... tied for the 4th coolest at
Austin Bergstrom with December 1989 since 1942... was the 8th coolest
December at San Antonio since 1885... and tied for the 13th coolest
December at del Rio with December 1976 since 1905.

Like April 2nd... 2009... windy conditions followed a fast moving cold
front on December 24th... 2009 leaving wind gusts to near 40 to
near 50 mph... along with colder temperatures. A few snow flurries
accompanied this event in the morning to the early afternoon over
Gillespie... Llano... Burnet... Williamson... northwest Travis... and
blanco counties. Later in December another mixed precipitation event
came... with snow flurries reported over The Hill Country the morning
of December 29th. Cold rain was briefly mixed with sleet from
San Antonio to Austin on the morning of December 29th... 2009.

The coolest decembers at Austin... del Rio... and San Antonio are
listed below.

The coolest decembers at Austin Mabry from 1854 to 2009 follow.

1. December 1859 40.9
2. December 1983 41.9
3. December 1898 42.9
4. December 1876 43.4
5. December 1989 44.3
...
15. December 1865 and 2009 47.5... 4.6 degrees below normal.

The coolest decembers at Austin Bergstrom from October 1942 to 2009 follow.

1. December 2000 43.9
2. December 1983 45.3
3. December 1963 45.5
4. December 1989 and 2009 46.1... 6.8 degrees below normal
5. December 1997 47.5

The coolest decembers at San Antonio from 1885 to 2009 follow.

1. December 1983 43.0
2. December 1989 43.4
3. December 1963 45.7
4. December 1914 46.3
5. December 2000 46.4
6. December 1898 47.4
7. December 1909 47.8
8. December 2009 48.3... 4.1 degrees below normal
9. December 1905 48.5
10. December 1944 48.9

The coolest decembers at del Rio from 1905 to 2009 follow.

1. December 1989 44.3
2. December 1983 44.6
3. December 1914 45.6
4. December 1963 45.8
5. December 1905 46.4
...
12. December 2009 49.0... 3.4 degrees below normal.

The warmest highs... coldest lows... average yearly temperature... and
rainfall for 2009 are listed below. The departure from the 1971 to
2000 normal for the average yearly temperature and yearly rainfall
are also listed.

Location warmest day coldest low average 2009 temperature/2009 rain
departure from 1971-2000 normal

Austin Mabry 106 Jun. 25 25 on Dec. 5 70.5 +2.0 31.38 -2.27
106 Jun. 29
106 Jul. 8

Del Rio 107 may 6 27 on Dec. 5 71.6 +1.9 12.96 -5.84

San Antonio 104 Jun. 29 23 on Dec. 5 71.0 +2.3 30.69 -2.23
104 Jul. 5
104 Jul. 8
104 Jul. 9
104 Aug. 23

year 2009 was the 5th warmest year at Austin Mabry from 1854 to 2009...
the 6th warmest at del Rio from 1906 to 2009... and the 6th warmest year
at San Antonio from 1885 to 2009. After the warmest Summer... much
cooler conditions came in September... and this set the tone for a
cooler fall. The milder conditions for most of November... ended
quickly with colder weather in December of 2009.

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