As Drought Looms, a Look Back at "High and Dry" White Rock Lake During Bone-Dry 1956

You've probably noticed -- it's been a long while since it significantly rained 'round these parts, which is why the National Weather Service has issued an elevated fire conditions warning for most of North Texas, including Dallas. The NWS also warns: "Drought has rapidly expanded across North and Central Texas...

By Robert Wilonsky

December 13, 2010

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You've probably noticed -- it's been a long while since it significantly rained 'round these parts, which is why the National Weather Service has issued an elevated fire conditions warning for most of North Texas, including Dallas. The NWS also warns: "Drought has rapidly expanded across North and Central Texas and is expected to persist or worsen this winter with La Niña conditions in place."

Coincidentally, Friend of Unfair Park PeterK directs our attention this morning to some old wire-service photos of Texas for sale on eBay taken from The Detroit News archives, including this one of White Rock Lake taken in January 1956, toward the end of what had been a horrific three-year period during which only eight inches of rain fell in '53. The title of this photo of boat skeletons found at the not-so-bottom of White Rock: "Lake Becoming Desert of Silt."

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