Showers and thunderstorms, developing and moving north along a differential heating boundary across western Cameron and Willacy County, likely encountered additional lift from the Gulf Coast sea breeze, leading to rapid intensification of a small cluster of storms as it moved from western Cameron into western Willacy County during the mid afternoon.
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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.
Showers and thunderstorms, developing and moving north along a differential heating boundary across western Cameron and Willacy County, likely encountered additional lift from the Gulf Coast sea breeze, leading to rapid intensification of a small cluster of storms as it moved from western Cameron into western Willacy County during the mid afternoon.
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 Aug 26, 12:55 PM CST, 2 hours 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 155 PM CDT TUE AUG 26 2008 .DISCUSSION...AFTER A CALM CLOUDY MORNING CONVECTION IS FINALLY SHOWING UP ON RADAR. DAYTIME HEATING AND THE DEEP MOISTURE AND A RETURN OF SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON. ACTIVITY SHOULD DIMINISH THIS EVENING AS THE AIR STABILIZES WITH THE COOL OF THE NIGHT. LITTLE CHANGE IN THE OVERALL WEATHER PATTERN IS INDICATED BY THE MODELS WITH THE OVERALL SYNOPTIC PATTERN SLOW TO CHANGE. A SHEAR ZONE WILL SET UP ACROSS NORTHERN MEXICO EXTENDING THROUGH SOUTH TEXAS THE NEXT THREE TO FOUR DAYS. HIGH PRESSURE EXTENDING WEST TO EAST FROM CALIFORNIA TO NORTH TEXAS WILL REMAIN IN PLACE WHILE LOWER PRESSURE DEEPENS SLIGHTLY OVER NORTH MEXICO AND SOUTH TEXAS. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES CONTINUE AT OR ABOVE 2 INCHES WITH AN AXIS OF HIGHER VALUES ALONG THE RIO GRANDE RIVER FROM HIDALGO COUNTY NORTHWEST THROUGH ZAPATA. THIS SHOULD CREATE A BETTER CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORM EACH DAY WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY AND POSSIBLY LINGERING INTO SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. WESTERN AREAS MAY HAVE A SLIGHTLY HIGHER CHANCE...ESPECIALLY OVERNIGHT... BUT WITH NO DISTINCT UPPER OR MID LEVEL SEEN TO AFFECT THE REGION AT THIS TIME ANY AREA CAN SEE A SHOWER OR STORM PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN. WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR EVOLUTION OF THIS SYSTEM FOR ANY INCREASE IN STRENGTH. WITH SATURATED GROUNDS IN PLACE AND NOT SIGNIFICANT DRYING EXPECTED ANY HEAVY RAINFALL IN THOSE LOCATIONS COULD POSE AN INCREASE THREAT OF FLOODING. CHANCE POPS WILL BE BROAD BRUSHED ACROSS THE CWA WHICH GOES ALONG WITH A BLEND OF THE GFS AND NAM. WENT BELOW GUIDANCE TEMPERATURES WITH AN INCREASE IN CLOUDS AND THE COOLING AFFECT OF THE CONVECTION AS WELL AS THE WET GROUNDS THAT EXIST AND WHAT SHOULD OCCUR. WINDS TO REMAIN LIGHT THROUGH TOMORROW BUT A INCREASE TO MODERATE AFTER BREEZES IS ANTICIPATED A THE PRESSURE GRADIENT TIGHTENS WITH THE LOWER PRESSURE DEEPENS OUT WEST. && .AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS WITH LIGHT SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS TO LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS AND MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES ARE BEING REPORTED AT THE REGIONAL AIRPORTS. THERE IS A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE CWA FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. WINDS MAY INCREASE AND BECOME VARIABLE IN OR NEAR ANY SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS AND CEILINGS AND/OR VISIBILITIES MAY BE REDUCED TO TEMPORARY MVFR OR IFR CONDITIONS. VFR TO TEMPORARY IFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE REGIONAL AIRPORTS DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. && .MARINE...AT NOON BUOY 20 REPORTED CALM WINDS AND SEAS AT 0.3 FOOT WITH A 4 SECOND PERIOD. A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE LOCATED OVER THE CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE LIGHT WINDS AND LOW SEAS OVER THE MARINE AREAS FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. THERE IS A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE MARINE AREAS AT TIMES THROUGH THE END OF THIS WEEK. WINDS AND SEAS MAY INCREASE IN OR NEAR ANY SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BAYVIEW/PORT ISABEL 78 87 79 87 / 10 40 10 40 BROWNSVILLE 77 88 78 88 / 10 40 10 40 HARLINGEN 77 88 77 88 / 10 40 10 40 MCALLEN 77 89 77 88 / 10 40 20 50 RIO GRANDE CITY 75 88 76 87 / 10 50 30 50 SOUTH PADRE ISLAND 79 85 80 85 / 10 30 10 30 && .BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. GM...NONE. && THIS PRODUCT IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BROWNSVILLE 59/63
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 657 AM CDT TUE AUG 26 2008 TXZ248>257-271100- ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY- INLAND CAMERON-COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON- 657 AM CDT TUE AUG 26 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS PORTIONS OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS TODAY. SOME SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL RESULTING IN MINOR LOCALIZED FLOODING THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. THERE IS A CONTINUED CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY...MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOONS AND EVENINGS THROUGH THIS WEEKEND...DUE TO DEEP TROPICAL MOISTURE INTERACTING WITH DAYTIME HEATING. ANY SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY THAT DEVELOPS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND SOME LOCALIZED MINOR FLOODING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. MARTIN
The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 62 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:19 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Emergency management officials reported a brief touchdown of a small tornado in western Willacy County, likely between Sebastian and Lyford. The tornado produced some damage, but details were not known.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2008Warnings in Texas, August 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: 134225.