The far northwest Texas Panhandle had been in Severe Drought (D2) since May, 2020. After the drought worsened and spread in June, significant improvement occurred especially across the northwest half of the Texas Panhandle in July as monsoon rainfall led to 125 to 200 percent above normal rainfall for many areas. This equated to rainfall of 1 to 2 inches above normal for the month and significant drought improvement if not drought removal in those areas. Meanwhile, portions of the southeast Texas Panhandle received below normal rainfall up to around 50 percent of normal, which equated to 1 to 2 inch deficits in July. This led to drought worsening and spread in these areas. By the end of the month, the Severe Drought (D2) continued across portions of the far southern and southeastern Texas Panhandle and pockets of Extreme Drought (D3) remained as well.
Some of the impacts to agriculture include but are not limited to the following. Corn especially, was largely harvested for silage in order to plant a secondary crop. Cotton crop had already been stunted even in areas that received meaningful rain towards the end of the month.  Irrigation was in full use especially in West Texas to include Oldham, Deaf Smith, Randall, and Armstrong County in the Texas Panhandle where drought conditions continued to persist.  Water supply for livestock continues to be low for much of the area in persistent D1 to D3 categories.

Drought in OCHILTREE, TEXAS
From 01-JUL-20 00:00:00 to 21-JUL-20 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Ochiltree County was in moderate drought (D1) through at least the first two weeks of July with a third of the county in severe drought (D2) to extreme drought (D3) mainly in the north to northwestern portions of the county. In the third week of the month three beneficial monsoonal rainfall began to improve conditions and all areas fell below severe drought status by the end of the month. Areas around Perryton ended the month with 5 to 6 inches of rainfall for July, which is near 200% of normal.

Drought in HARTLEY, TEXAS
From 01-JUL-20 00:00:00 to 21-JUL-20 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Hartley County began the month with a little over half of the western portion of the county in extremem drought (D3). The eastern portion of the county tapered off from severe drought (D2) to moderate drought (D1) further east. Wells were struggling to keep up with irrigation demand. Pasture and rangeland conditions were reported as very poor to fair. Reports were made of very short to short topsoil and subsoil moisture levels.

Drought in DALLAM, TEXAS
From 01-JUL-20 00:00:00 to 21-JUL-20 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Extreme drought (D3) existed in the northern half of the county, as well as a small sliver in the southwest going into July. With an exception of a portion in the southeast that was in moderate drought (D1), the rest of the county was in at least severe drought (D2). Beneficial monsoonal rainfall developed early in the month with Dalhart receiving 0.85 on the 3rd of the month and 0.70 on the 4th. Texline  received around 1.30 between those two days.  This allowed the county to drop at least one category in Drought during the first week. There was a small break in the rain during week 2, then drought conditions started to improve significantly with the county ending week 3 with no areas of severe drought and week 4 with only a couple of small areas in abnormally dry. Texline received a whopping 8.82 inches for a monthly total.

Drought in SHERMAN, TEXAS
From 01-JUL-20 00:00:00 to 21-JUL-20 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

About a third of Sherman County was in severe drought (D2) going into the month of July with less than one inch falling for each month previously at Stratford. Wells were struggling to keep up with irrigation demand. Pasture and rangeland conditions were reported as very poor to fair. Reports were made of very short to short topsoil and subsoil moisture levels. Beneficial monsoonal rainfall began to fall in the month of July allowing for Stratford and surrounding areas to receive 3 to 4 inches.  Severe drought was removed by the end of week 3. By the end of the month Sherman County had managed to expel all categories of drought. Around July 11, at least one wildfire was started by lightning due to the dry conditions through around mid July. This fire burned around 300 acres.

Drought in HANSFORD, TEXAS
From 01-JUL-20 00:00:00 to 21-JUL-20 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

The majority of Hansford County was in severe drought (D2) going into July with a small area in extreme drought (D3) in the northeast. A portion of the southeast remained in moderate drought (D1). Like a lot of areas in the TX Panhandle the majority of beneficial monsoonal rainfall fell in the third week. Areas near Gruver received 4 to 5 inches removing all D3 and D2 drought classifications from the county. By week 4 an additional 1-2 inches of rain fell. Wells were struggling to keep up with irrigation demand. Pasture and rangeland conditions were reported as very poor to fair. Reports were made of very short to short topsoil and subsoil moisture levels.