Hydrographic and Meteorological Study of the Lower Laguna Madre - Analysis of Populations of Sports and Commercial Fin-Fish and of Factors Which Affect These Populations in the Coastal Bays of Texas

Average monthly air and water temperatures ranged from a low of 9.6 degrees C. in January to a high of 30.8 degrees C. in September, increasing rapidly after February and decreasing after November. Average monthly air temperature ranged from a low of 12.4 degrees C. in December to a high of 29.4 degrees C. in August. Monthly rainfall totals were lowest in April (0.05 inches) and highest in May (4.51 inches). Hurricane Cindy produced moderate rainfall in September. The total rainfall was 8.03 inches below normal. Salinities were high throughout the bay in 1963, due to a combination of rainfall shortage, low tides, high evaporation, and influx of high salinity water from the upper Laguna Madre. Tides were highest from April through June and from late September through November. Southeast winds produced high tides during the summer and Hurricane Cindy produced abnormally high tides during September. Normal low tides occurred during the winter.