August 25, 2023 – Although North East Texas has avoided severe drought so far this summer, the latest repot from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows Hopkins County has now entered the lowest level of drought at the D0 or “Abnormally Dry” stage. As other counties in Texas are rapidly moving up the scale, some in Central Texas have achieved the most severe level of D4 or “Exceptional Drought” and more counties have been added to that level in recent weeks. Only a dozen counties in the panhandle are still in the No Drought category with some of those being only partial areas of those counties.
With this new information for Hopkins County, local officials will be discussing the option of enforcing a burn ban at the next County Commissioner’s meeting on Monday. Hopkins County would be one of the last remaining counties in our area to enforce a burn ban, as most of our neighboring counties have already voted to ban outdoor burning and other hazardous activites in their counties. More details about a local burn ban will be revealed after the next Hopkins County Commissioner’s meeting.
