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Hi everyone, and welcome to

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the Texas Water Development Board's
latest Water and Weather report.

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I'm Dr.

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Mark Wentzel, a hydrologist in the Surface
Water Division here at the agency.

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And today,
we're at the Tom Miller Dam in Austin

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for a special look back at summer 2026,
which we’ll compare to

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some of the historical summers
going back to 2000.

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On this map, we're looking at temperature
rankings for the summer of 2026

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for each climate region
relative to historic data for that region.

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Good news–this year,

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none of the climate regions
recorded their hottest summer since 2000.

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Bad news–three of the climate regions
did record their second hottest summers.

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Those regions were the High Plains,
Low Rolling Plains,

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and Lower Valley.

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Summer 2026 was cooler
than only the summer of 2011

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for the High Plains and Low Rolling

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Plains, and cooler than only summer 2023
for the Lower Valley.

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On this map, we're looking at
total precipitation rankings for summer

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2026 versus the summers back to 2000
for each climate region.

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The High Plains recorded its fourth
driest summer since 2000,

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with less than five
inches of total precipitation.

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Only 2011, with two inches; 2001,
with four inches,

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and 2020, with 4.5
inches, were drier for this region.

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On this map, we're looking
at the rank of Drought Severity

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and Coverage Index values for summer 2026,

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compared to historical values
for each region.

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The High Plains
region recorded its sixth highest average

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Drought Severity and Coverage Index
for a summer since 2000.

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Summers that were worse for that region
included all the summers

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between 2011 and 2014,
and the summer of 2022.

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On this map, we're looking at surface
water supply storage

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rankings for the summer of 2026
compared to previous summers.

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By this parameter, the Trans-Pecos region
had the most miserable summer.

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Reservoirs in that region averaged 6.6
percent of capacity,

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the second smallest volume for a summer
since 2000.

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Only the summer of 2013 was worse,
with average contents

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of 5.4 percent of capacity.

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East Texas also endured quite
a bit of misery based on this metric,

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averaging its third smallest volume
at 87.3

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percent of capacity–only 2006
and 2011 were worse.

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Putting it all together, which region
had the most miserable summer in 2026?

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Third place was a tie between the Low
Rolling Plains and East Texas.

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Both regions recorded their sixth
most miserable summers since 2000.

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Second place went to the Trans-Pecos,

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which had its fifth most miserable summer
since 2000.

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And finally, the distinction as the region
with the most miserable summer for 2026

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goes to the High Plains,
whose summer 2026 was the fourth

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most miserable summer
for that region since 2000–trailing

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only the summers of 2011, 2012,
and 2022 on our misery meter.

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Who got last place
and therefore had the least

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miserable summer
as measured by our four criteria?

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That would be the Edwards Plateau,
whose summer 2026 was their 16th

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most miserable or 12th
most pleasant summer in the last 27 years.

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That concludes our report.

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Until next time, regardless

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of what kind of summer you may have had,
I hope you all stay healthy and safe.