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April 10, 2025 - Drought in Texas
April 7, 2025
April 3, 2024
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Despite heavy rains that brought flooding to Deep South Texas in March 2025, much of the state continued to struggle with drought in early April.
According to the National Integrated Drought Information System (Drought.gov), 67.7 percent of Texas was experiencing drought conditions as of April 1. The worst affected areas were in Southcentral and Western Texas, where 13.8 percent of the state were categorized as D4 “Exceptional Drought”. That’s the highest category available. The report continued, listing 15.1 percent of the state in D3, “Extreme Drought” 17.1 percent in D2 “Severe Drought”, 21.7 percent in D1 “Moderate Drought” and 17.6 percent in D0 “Abnormally Dry”.
Deep South Texas, especially the Rio Grande Valley, did improve from the historic rainfall, with the region no longer experiencing any D3 drought. The National Weather Service reported that, “All of Deep South Texas has received 100% or more of normal rainfall over the past 30 days, with most of Deep South Texas, including the Rio Grande Valley receiving at least 300% of normal rainfall.” Even after this rain, as of April 1, 91 percent of the region remained in either D0, D1, or D2 drought.
According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Service Agency (FSA), as of April 9, fourteen counties in Texas were designated Primary Natural Disaster Areas for Drought. This allows the FSA to extend emergency credit to producers recovering from the natural disaster through emergency loans to meet various recovery needs, ranging from replacement of equipment and livestock to reorganizing a farming operation. In addition, 26 counties contiguous to the 14 primary counties are eligible for FSA assistance, according to the USDA FSA website.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a pair of false-color images to help illustrate the widespread drought in Texas. The first image was acquired on April 7, 2025, under current drought conditions. The second image was acquired on April 3, 2024, when conditions were more nearly normal.
In this type of image, vegetation looks bright green, water is blue, and open land looks tan. The images span much of the state, from the eastern coastal plains, where drought is minimal, to the central region, where drought is extreme. Because vegetation needs water in order to flourish, the lack of vegetation correlates with drought conditions. This is evident both in the single April 7 image, moving from the east coast to the central region, but also between this year and the much greener image from 2024.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 4/7/2025
Resolutions:
1km (397.4 KB), 500m (1 MB), 250m (2.8 MB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
April 7, 2025 April 3, 2024
Despite heavy rains that brought flooding to Deep South Texas in March 2025, much of the state continued to struggle with drought in early April.
According to the National Integrated Drought Information System (Drought.gov), 67.7 percent of Texas was experiencing drought conditions as of April 1. The worst affected areas were in Southcentral and Western Texas, where 13.8 percent of the state were categorized as D4 “Exceptional Drought”. That’s the highest category available. The report continued, listing 15.1 percent of the state in D3, “Extreme Drought” 17.1 percent in D2 “Severe Drought”, 21.7 percent in D1 “Moderate Drought” and 17.6 percent in D0 “Abnormally Dry”.
Deep South Texas, especially the Rio Grande Valley, did improve from the historic rainfall, with the region no longer experiencing any D3 drought. The National Weather Service reported that, “All of Deep South Texas has received 100% or more of normal rainfall over the past 30 days, with most of Deep South Texas, including the Rio Grande Valley receiving at least 300% of normal rainfall.” Even after this rain, as of April 1, 91 percent of the region remained in either D0, D1, or D2 drought.
According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Service Agency (FSA), as of April 9, fourteen counties in Texas were designated Primary Natural Disaster Areas for Drought. This allows the FSA to extend emergency credit to producers recovering from the natural disaster through emergency loans to meet various recovery needs, ranging from replacement of equipment and livestock to reorganizing a farming operation. In addition, 26 counties contiguous to the 14 primary counties are eligible for FSA assistance, according to the USDA FSA website.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a pair of false-color images to help illustrate the widespread drought in Texas. The first image was acquired on April 7, 2025, under current drought conditions. The second image was acquired on April 3, 2024, when conditions were more nearly normal.
In this type of image, vegetation looks bright green, water is blue, and open land looks tan. The images span much of the state, from the eastern coastal plains, where drought is minimal, to the central region, where drought is extreme. Because vegetation needs water in order to flourish, the lack of vegetation correlates with drought conditions. This is evident both in the single April 7 image, moving from the east coast to the central region, but also between this year and the much greener image from 2024.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 4/7/2025
Resolutions:
1km (397.4 KB), 500m (1 MB), 250m (2.8 MB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
