Tommy Ratto, a fire fighter from the Lassen National Forest in California, cleans up a hot spot after the destructive wildfire in Bastrop, Texas, Sept. 10, 2011. Officials in Texas say fire crews are making progress fighting a massive Texas wildfire but concerns about hotspots are keeping thousands of residents in the Bastrop area from returning home. (AP Photo/Eric Schlegel – POOL)

Recent cloud cover and rainfall has provided some temporary relief for the Texas wildfire situation. However, drier air is forecast to move in toward the middle and end of the week, which could lead to a renewed fire threat.

In the last two weeks, a wildfire raged out of control in Bastrop County, Texas, destroying over 1,550 homes along the way. Just in terms of homes destroyed, the Bastrop Fire became one of the worst forest fires in history.

Over 95 percent of the rolling pine forests of Bastrop State Park have been destroyed, according to NPR.org.

34,068 acres of land have been destroyed from just this fire alone.

Rainfall Helps Contain Fires

Thanks to recent moisture and a stalled out frontal boundary, scattered shower and thunderstorm activity has helped to halt the progress of active fires.

While it’s not the multiple days of soaking rains that the state needs to alleviate the exceptional drought going on, any precipitation is more than welcome by residents of the Lone Star State.

According to the Texas Forest Service, the Bastrop Fire has been 90 percent contained. A total of 1,554 homes have been destroyed and two people have been killed.

Another fire, the 101 Ranch Fire in Palo Pinto County, has been upgraded to 95 percent contained. This fire has destroyed 6,555 acres while destroying 39 homes and nine RVs.

Farther south in Harris County, just outside of Houston, a fire in George Bush Park has been 95 percent contained after destroying 1,623 acres of land.

A few other major fires have been upgraded to 90 to 95 percent contained as of Sunday morning. Only six new fires were reported on Saturday, which is down from the daily average throughout the last week.

250 of the 254 counties in Texas remain under some sort of burn ban.

Weather Outlook Through Next Week

While we’ve seen some decrease in the fire activity over the last week, the question becomes what is the short-term outlook for the state.

Drier air will be moving into the state into Monday, limiting most of the shower and thunderstorm activity to southeastern parts of the state.

Tuesday looks like a generally dry day across most areas; however, another front will sag through the state during Wednesday and Thursday, bringing additional shower and thunderstorm chances.

Beyond Thursday, a surge of much drier air will move into the southern Plains and this stretch of dry weather will continue into next weekend.

In general, most areas need between 10 and 20 inches of rain to really put a dent in the ongoing drought conditions. This appears unlikely through the remainder of the fall.

In fact, long-range forecasts put much of Texas below-normal precipitation-wise and above-normal temperature-wise through November. Therefore, the drought is almost certain to persist or worsen in the coming months.