In late April, the abnormally hot and dry conditions started in East Texas, and for the most part, they haven't let up since.  Over the course of the past several months, our yards have gotten crunchy, much of the vegetation has gone brown, and all of Deep East Texas (with the exception of Newton County) is under a burn ban.

Looking For Some Hope

Every day, throughout the summer, I've made it a point to look at what the forecast holds for at least the next seven days.  I'm looking for a ray of hope, perhaps some sort of widespread rain event or maybe the approach of a tropical system that could give us some major downpours, but at the same time, not cause any damage.

But, since late April, I usually see the outlook for 100-degree heat and no rain chances.

Recent Rains and Recent Near Misses

I'm sure you've noticed that over the past couple of weeks, a few storms have been making some welcome appearances over the Pineywoods. Several locations have even racked up an inch or two or more of rain. While some have enjoyed these downpours, others have been treated to just the smell of rain and the claps of thunder teasing East Texans of the near miss of an afternoon storm.

Finally, We Have Some Blue

The scattered showers as of late have been appreciated, but, what Deep East Texas needs is a widespread rain event that will bring most of our communities some rain for this parched land...we need Blue.

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The latest outlook of rainfall totals from the National Weather Service shows pretty much all of the Pineywoods painted in some shade of blue over the next 5 days. Translated, that means the majority of this area is expected to see an accumulation of a half-inch to over an inch of rain.  Some places will probably get more, some less, but, hopefully, the storms that take place this week will do a better job of spreading the wealth more evenly.

Rain Chances for the Week

We will continue with just slight rain chances through Tuesday, but it looks like Wednesday and Thursday will bring our best chances for precipitation (50-60%).  Some of the storms could get strong, but severe storms are not expected.

This won't be enough to take down any burn bans, but it should be a step in the right direction. So, keep the prayers going, and here's hoping for a soggy week.

And, to give you a little relief from the heat, here are some pics from an East Texas snowfall about a year and a half ago.

Snow Pics 2021

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