Extreme dry conditions continued across Deep South Texas during the month of March. The Climate Prediction Center (CPC) reported the soil moisture was abnormally to excessively dry over Deep South Texas.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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.
Extreme dry conditions continued across Deep South Texas during the month of March. The Climate Prediction Center (CPC) reported the soil moisture was abnormally to excessively dry over Deep South Texas. The United States Drought Monitor indicated that the drought conditions remainded severe for all of March in Zapata County; by the end of the month, extreme conditions were knocking on the door as no appreciable rain fell in the area. Fire bans continued over much of Deep South Texas for all 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 Feb 29, 8:00 PM CST, 4 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 800 PM CST FRI FEB 29 2008 .DISCUSSION...A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE CONTINUES PRODUCING SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY. THE WINDS WILL BECOME LIGHT DURING THE OVERNIGHT PERIODS THEN MODERATE DURING THE AFTERNOONS AND EARLY EVENINGS THROUGH SATURDAY. THE WINDS WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE ACROSS DEEP SOUTH TEXAS ON SUNDAY IN ADVANCE OF A COLD FRONT WHICH WILL MOVE THROUGH THE CWA ON MONDAY. ONCE THE FRONT PASSES THE WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTH AND INCREASE FURTHER. MODERATE TO STRONG AND GUSTY NORTHERLY WINDS WILL PREVAIL OVER THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THE WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE SOUTHEAST BY TUESDAY CONTINUING LIGHT DURING THE OVERNIGHT PERIODS AND LIGHT TO MODERATE DURING THE AFTERNOONS AND EARLY EVENINGS TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE AT ABOVE NORMAL VALUES THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. ONCE THE FRONT PASSES THE TEMPERATURES WILL DECREASE TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL VALUES TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY MORNING. TEMPERATURES WILL WARM TO ABOVE NORMAL VALUES WITH THE SOUTHEASTERLY WIND FLOW WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY. ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY ON THURSDAY SHIFTING THE WINDS TO THE NORTH AND COOLING TEMPERATURES TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL VALUES ON FRIDAY. THE CURRENT FORECAST PACKAGE LOOKS GOOD, THEREFORE NO CHANGES ARE ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. && .MARINE...AT 7PM BUOY020 REPORTED EAST WINDS AT 8KTS AND SEAS 7 FEET. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES EXPIRED AT 6PM AS WINDS NEAR THE COAST DECREASED AND SEAS OFFSHORE CONTINUE TO FALL. SMALL CRAFT SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION PAST 20NM AS SEAS WILL STILL BE ELEVATED THROUGH THE NIGHT. WINDS WILL TAKE A BREAK TOMORROW AS WEAK HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES INTO THE NORTHERN GULF. WINDS WILL INCREASE AGAIN SUNDAY IN RESPONSE TO AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT. ADVISORIES WILL BE NEEDED SUNDAY FOR WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS SUSTAINED. THE FRONT SHOULD SWEEP THROUGH THE COASTAL WATERS BETWEEN DAWN AND NOON MONDAY...WITH SUSTAINED WINDS OF 30 TO 35 KNOTS EXPECTED. LATEST MODEL RUNS CONTINUE TO EXHIBIT GALE WARNING CONDITIONS FOR MONDAY AFTERNOON. THESE WINDS WILL PRODUCE VERY ROUGH WATERS ON THE LAGUNA AND SEAS HEIGHTS OF 10 TO 14 FEET OFFSHORE. WINDS WILL REMAIN HIGH UNTIL DAWN TUESDAY WHEN HIGH PRESSURE ENTERS THE NORTHWEST GULF. SEAS WILL REMAIN ABOVE ADVISORY CRITERIA UNTIL LATE TUESDAY. SOUTHERLY FLOW QUICKLY INCREASES ON WEDNESDAY AS ANOTHER FRONT APPROACHES. && .AVIATION....CLOUD COVER HAS CLEARED FOR THE EVENING...BUT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL INDUCE LOW CLOUD FORMATION LATER THIS EVENING. STREAMER SHOWERS APPROACHING FROM THE SOUTHEAST WILL ATTEMPT TO MOVE INLAND...WITH BRIEF SHOWER CHANCES MAINLY AROUND BRO. WILL ADD A TEMPO GROUP TO BRO. INVERSION WILL BE TOO HIGH ALOFT FOR FOG FORMATION TONIGHT. MODERATE WINDS...LESS THAN TODAY...WILL DEVELOP AGAIN TOMORROW MORNING. && .BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && THIS PRODUCT IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BROWNSVILLE SYNOPTIC/GRIDS....63 MARINE/AVIATION...64 MESOSCALE...MARTINEZ
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 1225 PM CST FRI FEB 29 2008 TXZ248>257-011200- ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY- INLAND CAMERON-COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON- 1225 PM CST FRI FEB 29 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...REST OF TODAY AND TONIGHT. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS AFTERNOON FOR THE LOWER TEXAS BAY AND GULF WATERS DUE TO STRONG WINDS AND ROUGH SEAS. A MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT THE LOCAL BEACHES WILL OCCUR DUE TO THESE WIND AND SEA CONDITIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. A GALE WARNING OR SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY WILL BE NEEDED ALONG THE LOWER TEXAS COAST MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING AS WINDS AND SEAS INCREASE IN THE WAKE OF A COLD FRONT. ANOTHER SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT DUE TO ANOTHER COLD FRONT. A MODERATE TO HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT THE BEACHES OF SOUTH PADRE ISLAND AND BOCA CHICA IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD. A WIND ADVISORY AND FIRE WEATHER WATCH MAY BE NEEDED MONDAY AFTERNOON. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. TOMASELLI/SPEECE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe drought (D2) continued to intensify in Zapata County through March, with extreme drought (D3) conditions edging to the Webb/Zapata County Line by the end of the month. No rainfall and repeated intrusions of windy dry weather exacerbated the conditions heading into April.
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, March 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: 91757.