Severe drought conditions persisted across the western counties of Deep South Texas and the Lower and Middle Rio Grande Valley. The drought would further intensify through the remainder of the month.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS BRO wrote it up.
Severe drought conditions persisted across the western counties of Deep South Texas and the Lower and Middle Rio Grande Valley. The drought would further intensify through the remainder of the month.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Brownsville, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 31, 8:03 PM CST, 3 hours 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 903 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008 .DISCUSSION...MSAS SURFACE ANALYSIS INDICATED A DRYLINE FROM NORTH TEXAS TO SOUTHWEST TX THIS EVENING. NAM40 850MB TEMPERATURES ANALYSIS INDICATED WARM AIR ALOFT KEEPING A CAP ON CONVECTION DEVELOPING ALONG THE DRYLINE EVEN THOUGH LAPS SURFACE ANALYSIS INDICATED INSTABILITY ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE PLAINS. WEAK COLD FRONT MOVING INTO NORTH TX TUES MORNING IS PROGGED TO MOVE TOWARDS SOUTH TX TUES AFTERNOON. THIS MAY PROVIDE A FOCUS FOR CONVECTION TO DEVELOP NORTHEAST OF THE CWA. QUESTION IS IF THE BOUNDARY WILL MOVE FAR ENOUGH SOUTH TO ERODE THE CAP AND ALLOW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ACROSS NORTHERN PORTIONS OF DEEP SOUTH TX LATE TUES AFTERNOON. THE AMOUNT OF CLOUD COVER TUESDAY WILL ALSO DETERMINE THE AMOUNT OF DIURNAL HEATING FOR DESTABILIZATION WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR CONVECTION TO DEVELOP. FOR TONIGHT...WILL MAKE SOME CHANGES TO CLOUD COVER AS 00Z KBRO SOUNDING INDICATES RELATIVELY HIGH MOISTURE NEAR 950MB FOR LOW CLOUDS TO DEVELOP. OTHERWISE...PATCHY FOG LIKELY TO DEVELOP ACROSS EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA WHERE TEMPERATURES ARE CLOSER TO CURRENT DEWPOINTS. && .AVIATION...EXPECT VFR/MVFR CONDITIONS TO PERSIST THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. NAM MOS GUIDANCE TAKES THE CEILINGS AROUND THE LOWER RGV AREA DOWN INTO LIFR LEVELS STARTING AT 09Z TUES MORNING. THE GFS MOS MAINTAINS HIGHER CEILINGS THROUGH THE CURRENT TAF PERIOD AND WILL LEAN TOWARDS THE MAV GUIDANCE WITH SOME TEMPO GROUPS DOWN TO AROUND 2KFT. && .MARINE...BUOY 42020 CURRENTLY REPORTS A SOUTHEAST WIND AT 14 KNOTS WITH SEAS NEAR 5 FEET WITH A PERIOD OF 7 SECONDS. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO AND THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S. WILL INTERACT WITH A SERIES OF LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS OVER THE CENTRAL U.S. THIS WEEK. THIS INTERACTION WILL MAINTAIN MODERATE S-SE WINDS AND SEAS ALONG THE LOWER TEXAS COAST THROUGH THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. BOTH THE ECMWF AND THE GFS MAINTAIN A WEAK FROPA ACROSS DEEP SOUTH TX TOWARDS THIS WEEKEND WITH THE GFS MOVING THE FEATURE THROUGH A BIT SLOWER THAN THE ECMWF. THE GRADIENT AHEAD OF AND BEHIND THE FRONT MAY REACH MARGINAL SCEC/SCA LEVELS. GWW WINDS AND SEAS THROUGH DAY 7 LOOK REASONABLE. CURRENT CWF WINDS AND SEAS LOOK ON TRACK WITH NO MAJOR CHANGES EXPECTED. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 100 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008/ PARTLY CLOUDY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND MODERATE TO MODERATE AND GUSTY SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS ARE OCCURRING OVER THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON. THE WINDS WILL DECREASE BY TUESDAY BECOMING LIGHT DURING THE OVERNIGHT PERIODS AND MODERATE DURING THE AFTERNOONS AND EARLY EVENINGS THROUGH FRIDAY. PATCHY FOG WILL DEVELOP OVER PORTIONS OF THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY BEFORE SUNRISE TUESDAY MORNING. A WEAK COLD FRONT IS FORECASTED TO MOVE THROUGH THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY ON SATURDAY. THE FRONT WILL PRODUCE A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SHOWERS MOVING ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE CWA ON SATURDAY. THE WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE SOUTHEAST BY SUNDAY. MARINE...BUOY 42020 REPORTED SOUTHEAST WINDS AT 16 KNOTS GUSTING TO 18 KNOTS WITH SEAS 5.9 FEET WITH A PERIOD OF 7 SECONDS. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS HAVE BEEN IN EFFECT FOR THE LAGUNA MADRE TODAY...AS WINDS WILL CONTINUE BE AROUND 20 KNOTS THIS AFTERNOON. HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO WILL INTERACT WITH A SERIES OF LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS OVER NORTHERN TEXAS THIS WEEK. THIS INTERACTION WILL PRODUCE MODERATE WINDS AND SEAS ALONG THE LOWER TEXAS COAST THROUGH THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS TEMPO MVFR IN CIGS WITH BREEZY WINDS AND PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES WILL PREVAIL OVER DEEP SOUTH TEXAS THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HOURS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BAYVIEW/PORT ISABEL 73 84 72 83 / 0 0 10 0 BROWNSVILLE 72 87 70 85 / 0 0 10 0 HARLINGEN 71 90 70 88 / 0 0 10 10 MCALLEN 72 92 71 90 / 0 0 0 10 RIO GRANDE CITY 71 93 70 92 / 0 0 0 10 SOUTH PADRE ISLAND 74 78 74 78 / 0 0 10 0 && .BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. GM...NONE. && THIS PRODUCT IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BROWNSVILLE 61/60
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 620 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008 TXZ248>257-011100- ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY- INLAND CAMERON-COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON- 620 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...REST OF TODAY AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT THE BEACHES OF SOUTH PADRE ISLAND AND BOCA CHICA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. A WIND ADVISORY AND RED FLAG WARNING MAY BE NEEDED FOR PORTIONS OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS THURSDAY AS STRONG WINDS DEVELOP. A MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT THE LOCAL BEACHES IS POSSIBLE THROUGH MUCH OF THE FORECAST PERIOD. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. SPEECE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe (D2) drought conditions continued in Zapata County, TX, from late March into the first full week of April, as increasing sun angle and lack of rainfall maintained very dry soils.
Severe (D2) drought conditions continued across Jim Hogg County, TX, into the first full week of April, as increasing sun angle and lack of rainfall maintained very dry soils.
Severe (D2) drought conditions persisted in Starr County, TX, into the first full week of April, as increasing sun angle and lack of rainfall maintained very dry soil.
Severe (D2) drought conditions persisted across the western portions of Hidalgo County, TX into the first full week of April, as increasing sun angle combined with lack of rainfall to maintain very dry soils.
Severe (D2) drought conditions persisted in the western portions of Brooks County, TX, into the first full week of April, as increasing sun angle combined with lack of rainfall maintained very dry soils.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, April 2008
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 96350, 96360, 96361, 96363, 96365.