Drought conditions eased a bit to begin May across Deep South Texas and the Lower Rio Grande Valley, courtesy of rains that ultimately affected every location during the last week of April. Highest rain totals were toward the coast, where conditions eased the most - but were still at least Moderate, and generally Severe or Higher, according to the state-level Drought Monitor.
Every event with a place to put it; 10 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.
Drought conditions eased a bit to begin May across Deep South Texas and the Lower Rio Grande Valley, courtesy of rains that ultimately affected every location during the last week of April. Highest rain totals were toward the coast, where conditions eased the most - but were still at least Moderate, and generally Severe or Higher, according to the state-level Drought Monitor.
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 Apr 30, 7:30 PM CST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 830 PM CDT WED APR 30 2008 .DISCUSSION...THE COMBINATION OF LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVING ACROSS THE GREAT PLAINS AND HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE STRONG WINDS OVER DEEP SOUTH TEXAS THROUGH LATE THURSDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE ABOVE NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR DUE TO AMPLE AMOUNT OF SUNSHINE. A WEAK FRONT WILL APPROACH DEEP SOUTH TEXAS BY LATE FRIDAY CAUSING WINDS TO DECREASE. THERE COULD BE A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SHOWERS DURING THE WEEKEND AS THE FRONT WILL STALL OVER DEEP SOUTH TEXAS. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO BE ABOVE NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. BRO SOUNDING THIS EVENING SHOWED A PRECIP WATER OF .92 AND A K-INDEX OF A -4. PREVIOUS FORECAST PACKAGE LOOKS GOOD AT THIS TIME. NO UPDATES NEEDED AT THIS TIME. && .MARINE...WINDS ACROSS THE MARINE AREAS ARE HOLDING NEAR 20 KTS WITH HIGHER GUSTS THIS EVENING...SO WILL KEEP THE CURRENT SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES AS THEY ARE. SEAS OFFSHORE HAVE ALSO INCREASED TO 7 OR 8 FEET. IN FACT...OFFSHORE WINDS MAY INCREASE FURTHER LATER THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. AN H5 S/W TROUGH IS ADVANCING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES TONIGHT...WITH THE ASSOCIATED LOW PRESSURE STORM SYSTEM CONTINUING IN THE CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS. AS A RESULT...THE PRESSURE GRADIENT ALONG THE LOWER TEXAS COAST DOES NOT SHOW ANY SIGNS OF WEAKENING. INTERMITTENT PERIODS OF LOWER WIND CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE THE NEXT 24 HOURS...BUT BREEZY TO WINDY SOUTHEAST WINDS SHOULD CONTINUE. SEAS WILL BUILD ANOTHER FOOT OR TWO OVERNIGHT. WINDS AND SEAS WILL DECREASE THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY AS THE H5 TROUGH SWINGS EAST AND THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT PUSHES SLOWLY SOUTH TOWARDS THE LOWER COAST. WINDS WILL BACK TO EAST OR NORTHEAST SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY AS THE FRONT STALLS OR POSSIBLY MOVES WEAKLY THROUGH TO SOUTH OF THE AREA. && .AVIATION...A LOW STRATUS OR STRATOCU DECK IS EXPECTED TO MOVE IN FROM SOUTHEAST TO NORTHWEST OVERNIGHT. THE DECK IS EXPECTED TO DECREASE TO MVFR LEVELS BUT COULD BRIEFLY LOWER TO IFR BY SUNRISE THURSDAY. GUSTY WINDS ARE TO DECOUPLE THIS EVENING...WITH LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR OVERNIGHT. STRONGER WINDS WILL MIX TO THE SURFACE ONCE AGAIN LATE THURSDAY MORNING...WITH SCT CU IN THE AFTERNOON. && .BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SCA GMZ130-132-135 THROUGH 7 PM THURSDAY. SCA GMZ150-155-170-175 THROUGH 7 PM THURSDAY. && THIS PRODUCT IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BROWNSVILLE PUBLIC/GRIDS...65 MARINE/AVIATION/MESO...54
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 915 PM CDT WED APR 30 2008 TXZ248>257-011100- ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY- INLAND CAMERON-COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON- 915 PM CDT WED APR 30 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT TONIGHT. THERE IS A HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY WILL CONTINUE UNTIL AT LEAST THURSDAY EVENING. ELEVATED RIP CURRENT RISK WILL CONTINUE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
10 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Despite some locally heavy rains early during the week of April 21st and more widespread lighter rains on the 27th and 28th, Zapata County continued in extreme (D3) Drought, but had fallen below Exceptional (D4) which was the case until the end of April.
Despite some locally heavy rains early during the week of April 21st and more widespread lighter rains on the 27th and 28th, Jim Hogg County continued in extreme (D3) Drought, but had fallen below Exceptional (D4) which was the case until the end of April.
Despite some widespread light to moderate rains on the 27th and 28th, all but the southeast corner of Starr County continued in extreme (D3) Drought; northern portions of the county had fallen below Exceptional (D4) which was the case until the end of April.
Some light to moderate rains in Starr County on April 27th and 28th helped bring the southeast corner down to severe (D2) Drought, falling below the extreme (D3) level which was the case until the end of April.
Some light to moderate rains in Brooks County on April 27th and 28th, as well as some leftover rains from thunderstorms around the 21st of April, helped bring the western half down to extreme (D3) Drought, falling below the exceptional (D4) level which had been the case until the end of April.
Some locally heavy rainfall in Brooks County on April 27th and 28th, as well as some leftover rains from thunderstorms around the 21st of April, helped bring the eastern half down to severe (D2) Drought, falling below the extreme (D3) level which had been the case until the end of April.
Some locally heavy rainfall in Hidalgo County on April 27th and 28th, helped bring the Drought level down from extreme(D3) to severe(D2), which had been the case until the end of April. Conditions would improve further by May 20th across the southeast third of the county, after additional rainfall from May 11th to 17th was incorporated into the Drought Monitor.
Despite locally torrential rains in southern portions of the county on April 28th, most of Kenedy County remained in Severe(D2) Drought into the middle of May, with only the northeast corner falling back into moderate(D1) Drought status.
Conditions would improve further by the 20th, a result of more rainfall which fell generally between the 11th and 17th.
Torrential rains of between 3 and 5 inches on April 27th and 28th put a temporary dent into the drought across much of Cameron County by the end of April, as the once Extreme Drought(D3) levels of mid April across the far western portion were replaced by severe(D2) across the entire western third of the county to begin May. Locations near the coast dropped back to moderate(D1) Drought.
Conditions would improve further by May 20th, after rainfall that fell between the 11th and 17th was incorporated into the Drought Monitor.
Locally heavy rainfall of between 1 and 2 inches on April 27th and 28th put a slight dent into the drought across much of Willacy County by the end of April, as the once Extreme Drought(D3) levels of mid April across the far west were replaced by severe(D2) across the western third of the county to begin May. Locations near the coast dropped back to moderate(D1) Drought.
Conditions would improve further by the 20th, a result of more rainfall which fell generally between the 11th and 17th.
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, May 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: 114609, 114610, 114611, 114612, 114613, 114614, 114615, 114616, 114617, 114618.