Drought update: Conditions continue to worsen statewide

AUSTIN, Texas — We've had another drought monitor release, and as you'd expect with 42 straight days without measurable rainfall, we have had a real worsening of our drought situation in Central Texas and across the state.

In fact, of note there is a 14% increase in the severe drought category, and this even includes a majority of Hays County.

Additionally, we're also seeing worsening conditions in other categories as well.

The entirety of the coastal plains is now in the moderate drought category, which is a regression for Fayette, Lee and Milam Counties from a week ago. There is even a section of extreme southern Blanco County that is now under the extreme drought category, which is part of a 1% increase over the past week.

With this seven-day forecast below, expect more of the same in terms of regression for next week's drought monitor. In fact, some long range models don't even have a good rain chance until the end of October, so this is something that we may have to deal with for quite a while.