Table 3. Climatological data for Corpus Christi and Port Isabel, Texas. 1 



Montb 



Corpus 



Christi 



Port Isabel 



Temperature 

 1887 to 1970 



Precipitation 

 1887 to 1970 



Temperature 

 1931 to 1962 



Precipitation 

 1931 to 1960 





("Fahrenheit) 



(inches) 



(° Fahrenheit) 



(inches) 



Jan. 



56.4 



1.48 



61.8 



1.66 



Feb. 



59.0 



1.57 



64.4 



1.35 



Mar. 



64.7 



1.40 



67.8 



1.15 



Apr. 



71.4 



1.86 



73.3 



1.69 



May 



76.7 



3.09 



78.5 



1.98 



June 



81.0 



2.69 



82.5 



2.49 



July 



83.1 



1.80 



83.7 



1.21 



Aug. 



83.4 



2.26 



83.8 



2.19 



Sept. 



80.5 



4.53 



81.9 



4.97 



Oct. 



73.8 



2.46 



77.2 



3.05 



Nov. 



64.8 



1.85 



69.5 



1.75 



Dec. 



58.4 



1.73 



64.3 



2.31 



Annual 



71.1 



26.72 



74.1 



25.80 



1. Averages. (Data from Orton, et al., 1967, and Department of Commerce, 1970) 



more indicative of the stress associated witli semiarid lands where droughts are neither 

 infrequent nor regular (Carr, 1966). Carr's summary of probability for Texas droughts 

 indicates that the precipitation for Corpus Christi and Port Isabel will be less than or equal 

 to the long-term average, 6 years out of 10. Year to year precipitation occurs in irregular 

 cycles, as shown in Figure 5 for Corpus Christi during the past 43 years. Except for 1 year, 

 this study (1968 to 1974) has been conducted during a wet cycle. Monthly precipitation 

 data for north and south Padre for the period of this study are given in Table 4. In the last 

 6 years, precipitation on northern Padre has slightly exceeded that on the mainland at 

 Corpus Christi (38.10 versus 36.91 inches per year average). 



In north Padre, prevailing winds (disregarding windspeed) are onshore 11 months of the 

 year. The annual resultant vector sum (direction and velocity) of all winds is S85°W(Boker. 

 1956). Northerly winds are associated with frontal passages and usually are strong with 

 concurrent precipitation. Due to surface moisture, a higher wind velocitv is needed to 

 initiate sand movement. However, some "northers" are dry, and build small dunes along the 

 beach with each passage. This sand is available for the prevailing winds to transport back to 

 the loredunes. 



29 



