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As Texas swelters, crops and cattle are increasingly at risk
One year after a devastating drought, Texas agriculture watchers are wary that the positive effects of a wet spring could be zapped up with extreme heat.
LUBBOCK — May brought an unusual sight to the arid High Plains — rain, and lots of it.
Parched lands that previously begged for water welcomed the downpour. Farmers, who were still recovering from the drought-ridden season before, could finally sigh in relief.
Then came the cruel irony — the rain didn’t stop for weeks. The same water people prayed for all year was now flooding farmers out of their fields and stopping them from planting their crops on time.
Now, as the entire state sees blazing temperatures that only keep climbing, farmers are questioning if the whiplash-inducing weather will lead to another busted year.
West Texas gas operators released tons of excess emissions during June heat wave
When sizzling temperatures in June affected the air pressure in pipelines in West Texas, companies in five counties vented millions of pounds of natural gas and other toxins into the air.
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As a record-breaking heat wave bore down in June, extreme temperatures triggered a series of failures in West Texas’ gas supply infrastructure that led to more than 300 tons of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere.
“It is sadly ironic that the fossil fuel industry is seeing its equipment threatened by a situation it helped create,” Adrian Shelley, Texas director of Public Citizen, said in the report.
This summer is on track to be among Texas’ most extreme
June was only the 16th-warmest on record in Texas, but a mid-month heatwave brought an unusually high number of 100-degree days.
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An unrelenting stretch of blistering days amid an ongoing heat wave has put this summer on track to be one of Texas’ most extreme, weather data shows.
Although June was only Texas’ 16th warmest on record by average temperature, according to the state climatologist, a long period of very hot days between mid-June and mid-July has made this summer one of the most intense in terms of extended high temperatures.