Texas weather explained: how record rains could yield to record drought

Coming off a spate of record breaking rains in the last 12 months, Houston faces a flash flood watch today, but drought is likely not far off...

It all has a lot to do with El Niño and La Niña, counterparts of a global climatic cycle that shuffles moisture and temperatures across the Earth. The first typically brings more moisture and cooler temperatures to Lone Star skies, and the second ushers it away. Texas is largely, though not firmly, beholden to this process, which is guided by temperatures near the surface of the Pacific Ocean