Drought Information Statement for North and Central Texas Valid September 15, 2026 Issued By: National Weather Service Fort Worth/Dallas, TX Contact Information: sr-fwd.webmaster@noaa.gov This product will be updated October 1, 2026 or sooner if drought conditions change significantly. Please see all currently available products at https://drought.gov/drought-information-statements. Please visit https://www.weather.gov/fwd/DroughtInformationStatement for previous statements. Please visit https://www.drought.gov/drought-status-updates for regional drought status updates. Severe (D2) to Extreme (D3) drought conditions expanding across North and Central Texas with no significant rainfall occurring over the past 60 days while a record-breaking streak of triple digit heat persists. Drought conditions are generally expected to persist across the entire region through the Fall. U.S. Drought Monitor D4 (Exceptional Drought): None D3 (Extreme Drought): Several areas across North TX including parts of the eastern DFW Metroplex and locations adjacent to the Red River. D2 (Severe Drought): Broad area of North TX, extending south/southeast through Erath, Bosque, and Navarro counties. Also spreading northward from the Hill Country into parts of Bell, Coryell, and McLennan counties. D1 (Moderate Drought): The remainder of North and Central TX. D0: (Abnormally Dry): Areas in Freestone, Leon, Robertson, Milam, Mills, Hamilton, Lampasas, and far western Coryell counties. Recent Change in Drought Intensity Drought Worsened: Most of North and western Central Texas has seen a two to three class degradation. No Change: Parts of East Texas including Van Zandt, Rains, Henderson, and Anderson counties. Drought Improved: None Last 30 Days Precipitation Over the last 30 days (ending at 7 am CDT September 14, 2026), rainfall totals range from 0” to 1.5”, with only parts of eastern Central Texas including the Brazos Valley seeing totals exceed 2”. This corresponds to <50% of normal for most of the region, with much of North Texas and western Central Texas around 25% of normal or less. Temperature Over the last 7 days, temperatures were on average around 6-10°F above normal across most of the region. The only exception was in Southeast Texas into eastern Central Texas where temperatures have been <6°F above normal in response to enhanced sea breeze activity. Max temperatures over the last 30 days have shown the same well-above normal spatial distribution. Summary of Impacts Hydrologic Impacts Area reservoir levels are continuing to fall below normal in the absence of widespread rainfall. Agricultural Impacts Recent dry conditions have led to significant impacts to livestock and agriculture. Soil moisture remains below normal (< 30th percentile) for all areas except for eastern Central Texas (generally S of I-20 and E of I-35/45). See CPC Daily Soil Moisture Rankings here. Drought has had a significant impact on ponds and pastures across the Southern Plains. Ranchers have reported pastures providing little or no feed, animal stress/mortality, and impacts to water supply requiring mandatory conservation. Fire Hazard Impacts Outdoor Burn Bans are in effect for 45 of the 46 counties in our forecast area. Mitigation Actions Please refer to your municipality and/or water provider for mitigation information. Fire Hazard Impacts The Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook calls for above normal fire potential to persist across much of the Southern Plains through the end of the month. Link to Wildfire Potential Outlooks from the National Interagency Coordination Center Expanding Extreme (D3) drought conditions across the region signal the likely persistence of above normal fire potential across much of the Southern Plains through the end of the month. Long-Range Outlooks The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage There is no clear signal for precipitation being above or below normal across North and Central Texas through the end of the month. There is approximately a 50-60% probability of above-normal temperatures during the rest of the month of September. Drought Outlook The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage In the absence of a clear signal for widespread wetting rainfall, the current seasonal outlook (September through November)indicates that drought conditions are expected to develop or persist region-wide through the fall.