Just enough gusty winds, near 25 mph, on the back side of chilly high pressure moving into the western Gulf of Mexico, combined with marginally low humidity to spread a small wild fire near the Rio Grande River in Zapata County, TX.
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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.
Just enough gusty winds, near 25 mph, on the back side of chilly high pressure moving into the western Gulf of Mexico, combined with marginally low humidity to spread a small wild fire near the Rio Grande River in Zapata County, TX.
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 Jan 20, 1:15 PM CST, 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 115 PM CST SUN JAN 20 2008 .DISCUSSION...A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE EXTENDING INTO THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT THE WINDS TO THE SOUTHEAST BY MONDAY MORNING. THE WINDS WILL BECOME REMAIN LIGHT OVERNIGHT THEN BECOME MODERATE DURING THE AFTERNOONS AND EARLY EVENINGS FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS FROM THE SOUTHEAST. THE SKIES WILL REMAIN CLEAR TO PARTLY CLOUDY BUT THE CLOUD COVER WILL BEGIN INCREASING THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. CLOUD COVER AND THE CHANCES FOR SHOWERS WILL INCREASE ACROSS DEEP SOUTH TEXAS TONIGHT AND MONDAY AS THE SOUTHEASTERLY WIND FLOW BEGINS INCREASING THE ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE ACROSS THE CWA. A COLD FRONT WILL STALL OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTH TEXAS EARLY THIS WEEK THEN MOVE THROUGH THE THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY BY WEDNESDAY. A LOW PRESSURE AREA WILL DEVELOP OVER THE WESTERN GULF OF MEXICO ON WEDNESDAY RESULTING IN A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS MOVING ACROSS PORTIONS OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS AT TIMES MOST OF THIS WEEK DUE TO THE PROXIMITY OF THE FRONT AND THE WESTERN GULF OF MEXICO LOW PRESSURE AREA. THE WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTHEAST ON WEDNESDAY IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONT BECOMING MODERATE DURING THE AFTERNOONS AND EARLY EVENINGS AND LIGHT DURING THE OVERNIGHT PERIODS FROM THE NORTH TO NORTHEAST WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BECOME SLIGHTLY WARMER THAN NORMAL ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY BUT THE TEMPERATURES WILL DECREASE TO NEAR NORMAL VALUES ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY IN THE WAKE OF THE COLD FRONT. TEMPERATURES INCREASE ON FRIDAY AND BECOME SLIGHTLY WARMER THAN NORMAL OVER NEXT WEEKEND. && .MARINE...BUOY020 REPORTED EAST WINDS 12 TO 16 KTS AND SEAS 6.6 FEET AT 8 SECONDS. WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO DECREASE LATER TODAY AND EVEN SWITCH FROM THE SOUTHEAST BY TONIGHT. MOISTURE WILL MOVE BACK INTO THE AREA LATER TODAY AS MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES WILL BE THE RULE BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON. THE NEXT COLD FRONT WILL INITIALLY ENTER THE REGION ON TUESDAY...AND IS EXPECTED TO STALL LOCALLY. ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL PUSH COLDER AIR THROUGH BY THURSDAY MORNING WITH GUSTY NORTH WINDS IN ITS WAKE. WINDS AND SEAS WILL INCREASE TO ABOVE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CRITERIA ON THURSDAY. && .AVIATION...VFR SKIES WILL PREVAIL THIS AFTERNOON. SOME MVFR CIGS MAY INFLUENCE THE AREA BY LATE AFTERNOON DUE TO A RETURN FLOW OF AIR. WINDS WILL BE LIGHT FROM THE EAST BECOMING LIGHT TO MODERATE FROM SOUTHEAST BY TONIGHT. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BAYVIEW/PORT ISABEL 56 71 64 75 63 / 20 30 10 20 20 BROWNSVILLE 53 72 62 77 61 / 20 30 10 20 20 HARLINGEN 52 72 60 77 61 / 20 30 10 20 20 MCALLEN 52 71 59 77 60 / 20 30 10 20 20 RIO GRANDE CITY 51 72 58 77 59 / 20 30 10 20 20 SOUTH PADRE ISLAND 59 70 66 73 65 / 20 30 10 20 20 && .BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && THIS PRODUCT IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BROWNSVILLE SYNOPTIC/GRIDS....63 MARINE/AVIATION...65 MESOSCALE...CAMPBELL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 517 AM CST SUN JAN 20 2008 TXZ248>257-211200- ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY- INLAND CAMERON-COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON- 517 AM CST SUN JAN 20 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE GULF WATERS UNTIL 9AM DUE TO HIGH SEAS. A FREEZE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR JIM HOGG...ZAPATA...AND BROOKS COUNTIES UNTIL 8AM THIS MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES ARE POSSIBLE ON MONDAY DUE TO GUSTY SOUTHEAST WINDS AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING FRONT...AND ARE ALSO POSSIBLE ON THURSDAY AS ANOTHER FRONT PASSES THROUGH THE REGION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A grass fire near San Ygnacio, in northwestern Zapata County, burned approximately 500 acres and was contained. There were no structures threatened. Several local fire departments and Volunteer fire departments responded quickly to the blaze.
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, January 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: 78950.