Long term drought conditions contributed to concerns for wildfires and dust storms during the April winds and low relative humidity during the month. A total of 8,471 acres were burned across portions of Potter and Carson County in the Texas Panhandle early on in April. The fire that was in Potter County caused several residential areas north of Amarillo to be evacuated by the Potter County Office of Emergency Management due to erratic fire behavior along the Canadian River Valley terrain.
Per farmers and ranchers, soil moisture was reported to be short to very short. Dryland winter wheat was not harvestable during the month.  Cow/calf producers were feeding more on rangelands, but in several counties the cow/calf pairs were going to market due to lack of forage availability.

Drought in DALLAM, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

The western third of the county started the month of April in Exceptional Drought (D4), as well as a small portion of the northeastern part of the county. A small part of the southeast was in Severe Drought (D2), with the rest of the county started the month with Extreme Drought (D3). Within the first few days the area of D2 degraded to D3, as time continued with no beneficial rainfall. The areas in D4 remained the same at the end of the month and the rest of the county was in D3 at months end despite 1 to 1.5 of rainfall by late in the month.

Drought in HARTLEY, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

The northwestern corner of the county started April with Extreme Drought (D3) conditions with the rest of the county in Severe Drought (D2). Within the first couple of days in April the area of D3 expanded across the north to the northeastern corner of the county.  With much of the southern portion of the county receiving around half an inch or less of rainfall the rest of the county had degraded into  D3. A portion of the northwest fell into Exceptional Drought (D4) as well.

Drought in SHERMAN, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

The southeastern corner of the county started the month in Extreme Drought (D3) while the majority of the county was in Exceptional Drought (D4). With minimal rainfall, less than 1.5 for the whole month, no changes were made to the drought categories in the county at the end of April.

Drought in MOORE, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Moore County started the month of April with the southwestern third to half of the county in Severe Drought (D2). The rest of the county was in Extreme Drought (D3) with a small portion in the far northeast corner in Exceptional Drought (D4). With the southwestern portion of the county in D2 receiving less than an inch in the entire month, this area degraded into Extreme Drought (D3) by the end of the month.

Drought in HANSFORD, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Hansford County started and ended the month of April with the vast majority of the county in Exceptional Drought (D4). The exception being the far southeast corner that started and ended the month in Extreme Drought (D3). Spring rains were short with only 1 to 1.5 of rainfall occurring during the month.

Drought in OCHILTREE, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Ochiltree County started the month with three quarters of the county in Exceptional Drought (D4). With the exception of a small area in the southeast corner being in Severe Drought (D2), the rest of the county was classified in Extreme Drought (D3).

Drought in LIPSCOMB, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Lipscomb County started the month with the northwest third of the county in Exceptional Drought (D4), with the rest of the county in Extreme Drought (D3). A good portion of the the northern half to two thirds of the county received close to 2 of rain for the month. This allowed the northwestern portion of the county to improve to D3, with the entire county ending the month in D3.

Drought in HUTCHINSON, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Hutchinson County started the month of April with Exceptional Drought (D4) across northern portions of the county and Extreme Drought (D3) elsewhere. With the county receiving near normal to just below normal precipitation in the latter part of the month. The drought classifications for the county remained in place at the end of the month.

Drought in ROBERTS, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Roberts County started the month of April with the northwestern third of the county in Extreme Drought (D3), while the southeasthern two thirds saw Severe Drought (D2) conditions. By mid month, the continuation of dry and warm conditions plunged the entire county into D3 where the whole of the county ended the month. The county only received 50% to 90% of the monthly April normal rainfall.

Drought in ARMSTRONG, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Hemphill had a small area of Extreme Drought (D3) in the far northeastern corner of the county at the beginning of April. The rest of the county started the month in Severe Drought (D2).  Much of the county received 1.5 of rain or less during the month. This was below the normal April rainfall of 2 to 3. Therefore, the entire county ended the month in Extreme Drought with the exception of the far southern edge of the county that remained in D2.

Drought in OLDHAM, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Severe Drought (D2) conditions existed across the north and eastern portion of the county at the start of the month, with Moderate Drought (D1) across the remaining portions. The lack of rain continued until the entire county was in D2 by week 3 and all of the county slipping into Extreme Drought (D3) by months end.  The county had only received 0.25 to less than an inch of rainfall for the month which was only about 50% to 75% of the April normal.

Drought in DEAF SMITH, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

The southern portion of the county started the month in Extreme Drought (D3). The northwest corner of the county started in Moderate Drought (D1) with the rest of the county in Severe Drought (D2). By the third week the area of D1 slipped into the D2 category and by the end of the month almost all of the county was in D3. The exception being a small area in the far eastern portion of the county that remained in D2.  The central and western portions of the county received less than 0.5 of rainfall during the month. The area that stayed D2 did receive the normal monthly April rainfall while the rest of the county was below normal.

Drought in POTTER, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Potter County started the month of April with the far northeastern corner of the county in Extreme Drought (D3), and the rest of the county in Severe Drought (D2). With the county ending the month of April 0.5 to 1 below the monthly normal rainfall, the vast majority of the county ended the month in D3.

Drought in RANDALL COUNTY, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

A small area of the county in the southwest corner started the month of April with Extreme Drought (D3) conditions. The rest of the county started the month in Severe Drought (D2). Extreme drought conditions overtook the northern into central portions of the county at the end of the month as these areas continued with a dry streak and only receiving  around 50% of normal April rainfall.

Drought in CARSON, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Carson County started the month with Extreme Drought (D3) in the north and Severe Drought (D2) elsewhere. Much of the county received 50% to 90% of the normal April rainfall. This lead to much of the county remaining unchanged in drought category with a slight increase in D3 in the far western portion of the county.

Drought in GRAY, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Gray County started the month in Severe Drought (D2). Much of the county received near normal April rainfall with the exception of the northwest corner. Because of this, the northwest slipped into Extreme Drought (D3).

Drought in WHEELER, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Wheeler County started and ended the month in Severe Drought (D2). With the county only receiving 75% to 90% of the normal April rainfall during the month drought classification remained unchanged.

Drought in ARMSTRONG, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Armstrong County started and ended the month in Severe Drought (D2) conditions. Despite receiving near normal April rainfall over much of the county, this was not enough to offset the overall deficit for any improvements to made to the drought category.

Drought in DONLEY, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Donley County started the month in Severe Drought (D2). The only change was a small isolated area in the southeast corner that ended the month in Extreme Drought (D3). The vast majority of the county ended the month with near normal rainfall for April.

Drought in COLLINGSWORTH, TEXAS
From 01-APR-23 00:00:00 to 30-APR-23 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Collingsworth County started the month with the southeast corner of the county in Extreme Drought (D3) and the rest of the county in Severe Drought (D2). By the end of the month the whole southeastern half of the county was in D3, with a small area in the far southeast corner degrading to Exceptional Drought (D4). The southeast where the degradations occurred only received 50% or less of normal April rainfall totals.