No drought or fire danger to start summer
May 30—Hunt County and the surrounding area of North Texas are starting summer in great shape, at least in terms of drought conditions.
Recent rains and mild temperatures have resulted in no drought at all being reported for most of Hunt County.
The latest United States Drought Monitor, released Thursday morning, indicated the westernmost edge of the county was listed under "abnormally dry" conditions, as was all of Collin County and the southwest corner of Fannin County.
The rest of Hunt County, and all of Rockwall, Kaufman, Delta and Hopkins counties were not under any drought notifications.
The Keetch-Byram Drought Index monitors soil moisture levels and is an indicator of the potential for grass fires.
A reading of "zero" under the index means the soil is saturated, while 800 is the highest reading on the index, meaning that it would take eight or more inches of rainfall to bring the soil to saturation.
As of Thursday, readings under the index for Hunt County ranged from 83 to 261, with a countywide average of 158.
There were no bans on outdoor burning in place anywhere in North Texas as of Thursday and the Texas A&M Forest Service listed the entire region under "low" to "moderate" fire danger conditions.
Lake Tawakoni has been full since mid-February and as of Thursday morning it remained at the fill stage of 437.5 feet.
The National Weather Service forecast was calling for the favorable weather conditions to continue this week, with only slight chances of precipitation.
