Leaders Discuss Weather Issues
By: Liz Gonzales
Updated: November 1, 2012
Reservoirs just like this one are down to less than 5% capacity.
On Thursday community leaders throughout West Texas gathered to discuss the weather and what it will bring in the upcoming months.
"The purpose is pretty much basically to assist elected officials, decision, water managers, etc in making education informed decisions in regards to water management and water management issues," says Victor Murphy of the National Weather Service.
September's rain provided relief to some regions, including San Angelo who was on the verge of entering stage 3 in which all watering, car washes and water fountains would be banned.
Unfortunately, the weather is often difficult to predict.
"It looked like we were going to have an El Nino event coming in for this coming winter, which would more likely than not have brought us increased chances for above normal rain fall," explains Murphy. "Unfortunately, it looks like El Nino seems to be sputtering."
And what does this mean for the area?
"It looks like October is going to be one of the top 10 driest Octobers in this area, only 25% of normal rainfall. It looks like we've started the downward trend again," says Murphy.
It's that trend that many fear.
In order to prevent a harsh future, water management experts were in attendance to learn about the present and future circumstances and how to prepare for what's to come.
"We're here to listen to them tell us what it is they need with regards to weather information or weather products or climate information or climate data.," explains Murphy.
Although it's difficult to say what the upcoming months may bring, forecasters are doing their best to keep us informed.
