In deserts, climate and water shape everything that lives there — and often the fate of cultural sites too. At Fort Davis National Historic Site, scientists with the NPS Chihuahuan Desert Inventory and Monitoring Network track climate, weather and groundwater year after year, like a doctor watching a patient's vital signs, to catch problems early.
Fort Davis National Historic Site. Photo by the National Park Service
Results are reported by water year: water year 2021 ran from October 2020 through September 2021. The data come from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Cooperative Observer Program weather station the park has operated since 1902.
Weather and climate
Weather is what's happening now — rain, snow, a hot or bitter day. Climate is the pattern over seasons to years, and the main driver of ecological change.
A tornado near Fort Davis in 2007. Photo by the National Park Service
The weather station and monitored wells. Image from the National Park Service
Precipitation: a wet summer
| Total | 16.84 inches (42.8 cm) — 1.33 inches above the 1991–2020 normal |
| Cool season (October–March) | less than half of normal, despite a wet December |
| Summer (June–August) | where the surplus fell |
| Extreme days (1 inch or more) | five — more than twice the usual number |
The five downpours — June 27 (1.65 in.), June 29 (1.19), July 2 (1.09), July 3 (1.07) and August 20 (1.42), all in 2021 — each sent a flash flood down the park's normally dry creek.
Temperature
| WY2021 | Normal | |
|---|---|---|
| Average high | 0.2 °F warmer | 77.8 °F |
| Average low | 0.6 °F cooler | 47.7 °F |
| Days above 95 °F | 11 | 25.7 |
| Days below 22 °F | 17 | 18.3 |
Water year 2021 compared with normal. Image from Climate Analyzer
Drought: the reconnaissance drought index, which weighs precipitation against potential evaporation and plant water use, shows 2021 was slightly wetter than usual.
Fort Davis National Historic Site NPS.
Drought index, water years 1991–2021. Image from Climate Analyzer
Groundwater
Groundwater is one of the Southwest's most vital resources, supplying drinking water, irrigation, and the region's rivers, streams and springs. Two wells near the park are measured each year by the Texas Water Development Board — but COVID-19 disruptions meant no measurement in 2021; the latest was February 17, 2020.
| Well | Location | Depth to water | Change since 2019 | Change since 1967 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 52-25-308 | 1,100 ft northeast of the park, by Limpia Creek | 11.70 ft | +0.77 ft | −1.30 ft |
| 52-25-309 | 144 ft east of the park | 33.13 ft | +0.17 ft | −5.03 ft |
- Both wells rose slightly from 2019 to 2020.
- Well 309 tracks rainfall and has swung 11.36 ft over its record.
- Well 308 has stayed shallow and steady, varying just 4.01 ft — probably buffered by nearby Limpia Creek.
Depth to groundwater and annual precipitation, 1967–2021. Image from the National Park Service
Sources
Based on "Climate and Groundwater Monitoring at Fort Davis National Historic Site," water year 2021, Chihuahuan Desert Inventory and Monitoring Network, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain. Pictures an earlier version of this page left out were restored on 2026-09-26.
In these publicationsFort Davis National Historic Site
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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