Bee County is among nine counties statewide suffering through their worst drought since 1895, a state climatologist reported.

And Beeville has broken drought records set in 1915, 1917 and 1988. In fact, the city of Beeville has received only .11 of an inch of precipitation more than the great drought of 1953, according to the National Weather Service.

“I have no doubt that we’ve broken some kind of record here,” said David Morgan, emergency management coordinator for the city of Beeville and Bee County. “Although I don’t have the historical data in front of me, I certainly would believe this is the worst drought anyone alive today has ever seen. It’s been too hot and too dry for too long.”

Over two years

State climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon told the Associated Press that in a two-year period ending Friday, nine of the 254 counties in Texas have been the driest they’ve ever been since modern record-keeping began in 1895.

Those nine counties include Bee, Live Oak, San Patricio, Jim Wells, Duval and Victoria counties in South Texas and Bastrop, Caldwell and Lee counties in Central Texas.

Tony Merriman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Nielsen-Gammon’s study takes into account all nine counties as a whole over a two-year period.

Individual communities within those nine counties may be better off or worse off, he noted.

Since Jan. 1

Merriman said the city of Beeville is suffering through one of its worst droughts ever in a year-to-date study.

Beeville has only received 6.20 inches of precipitation between Jan. 1 and Aug. 18, he noted.

The worst drought to ever hit the city in the same time frame was in 1953 when Beeville only received 6.09 inches of precipitation, he reported.

Prior to that, the drought of 1917 was the worst on record, with the city only receiving 7.73 inches of precipitation.

The drought of 1915 saw the city receive 7.12 inches of rain and in 1988 the city received 7 inches of rainfall.

100-degree days

Merriman said the city of Beeville has experienced 39 or more days of 100 degree or hotter temperatures.

He said the first 100-degree day was reported on June 24.

“Those 39 days of 100-degree or hotter temperatures were only the days observed,” he explained. “The (National Weather Service) co-op didn’t report on some days.”

On average, the city of Beeville receives about 13.3 days of 100-degree or hotter days each year, Merriman reported.

That means the city has had three times as many 100-degree or hotter days this summer than the annual average, he reported.

In 1917, the city of Beeville suffered through 22 days of 100-degree or hotter days, he said.

‘Miserably dry’

“I believe the combination of 100-degree or plus days and the lack of rainfall is historic,” Morgan said.

He added the county as a whole is suffering through what the state Forestry Service defines as an “exceptional drought.”

“Although some parts of the county have been more fortunate than others when it comes to receiving moisture, the county as a whole is in an exceptional drought,” he said, citing the Keetch-Byrum Drought Index.

“Every part of the county is at least over 700 in the Keetch-Byrum Drought Index, and the southern part of the county is at 762. That’s miserably dry.”

That drought index ranges from 0 to 800, with 800 being the driest condition possible.

The index is based on precipitation, temperature, wind, soil moisture, humidity and other factors, and is used by the state to determine the likelihood of wildfires.

“It’s so dry right now in Bee County that any fire could be dangerous,” Morgan said.

The county is presently under a burn ban.