After some mid month relief in the form of unsettled and locally wet weather, dry and hot conditions returned to close out May, with near record heat just before Memorial Day helping increase the rate of drying. Extreme and severe drought areas had expanded slightly by the end of May due to below normal rainfall occurring over most of Deep South Texas; continued hot and dry weather into June…
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.
After some mid month relief in the form of unsettled and locally wet weather, dry and hot conditions returned to close out May, with near record heat just before Memorial Day helping increase the rate of drying. Extreme and severe drought areas had expanded slightly by the end of May due to below normal rainfall occurring over most of Deep South Texas; continued hot and dry weather into June would further expand these Drought areas, though not to the levels seen in mid April, when Exceptional Drought touched the western Lower Rio Grande Valley.
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 May 26, 6:40 PM CST, 5 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 740 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008 .DISCUSSION...ISSUED UPDATED ZONE FORECAST TO ACCOUNT FOR EXPECTED INCREASED CLOUD COVER TONIGHT. MID-LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE OVERHEAD TO PRODUCE DRY AND VERY WARM WEATHER CONDITIONS HERE THROUGH THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. GFS MODEL GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SUGGEST TROPICAL SYSTEM NEAR YUCATAN PENINSULA/CHANNEL LATE IN THE COMING WEEKEND... JUST IN TIME FOR THE OFFICIAL START OF HURRICANE SEASON. && .MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FLAGS HAVE BEEN LOWERED NOW OVER ALL MARINE AREAS OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS AS WINDS AND SEAS DECREASE. WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO DECREASE ALONG WITH SEA HEIGHTS OVERNIGHT THEN BECOME MODERATE BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON. HIGH PRESSURE BROADENS OVER MUCH OF TEXAS SPREADING NORTHWEST WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THIS WILL WEAKEN THE PRESSURE GRADIENT ALONG THE COAST ALLOWING FOR LIGHT TO MODERATE WINDS AND SUBSIDING SEAS. && .AVIATION...MVFR TO NEAR IFR CIGS ARE ANTICIPATED OVERNIGHT. GUSTY SOUTHEAST WINDS XPCTD TUESDAY WITH VFR CRITERIA DOMINATING. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BAYVIEW/PORT ISABEL 79 90 77 89 / 0 0 0 0 BROWNSVILLE 78 92 76 91 / 0 0 0 0 HARLINGEN 77 93 75 93 / 0 0 0 0 MCALLEN 78 96 75 95 / 0 0 0 0 RIO GRANDE CITY 78 100 75 97 / 0 0 0 0 SOUTH PADRE ISLAND 80 85 79 84 / 0 0 0 0 && .BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && THIS PRODUCT IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BROWNSVILLE SYNOPTIC/GRIDS...TOMASELLI/66 MARINE/AVIATION...PHILO/58 HMT/MESO...MARTINEZ
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 830 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008 GMZ130-132-135-150-155-170-175-TXZ248>257-271030- LAGUNA MADRE FROM THE PORT OF BROWNSVILLE TO THE ARROYO COLORADO- LAGUNA MADRE FROM THE ARROYO COLORADO TO 5 NM NORTH OF PORT MANSFIELD TX- LAGUNA MADRE FROM 5 NM NORTH OF PORT MANSFIELD TO BAFFIN BAY TX- COASTAL WATERS FROM PORT MANSFIELD TO THE RIO GRANDE OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM BAFFIN BAY TO PORT MANSFIELD OUT 20 NM- WATERS FROM PORT MANSFIELD TO THE RIO GRANDE EXTENDING FROM 20 TO 60 NM- WATERS FROM BAFFIN BAY TO PORT MANSFIELD EXTENDING FROM 20 TO 60 NM-ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY- INLAND CAMERON-COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON- 830 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS...THE GULF OF MEXICO AND THE LAGUNA MADRE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS ALONG THE AREA BEACHES OF THE LOWER TEXAS COAST TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. PHILO
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Extreme (D3) drought conditions redeveloped over eastern Jim Hogg County by the end of May as very hot and dry conditions returned to Deep South Texas between May 22nd and the end of the month.
Extreme (D3) drought conditions returned to most of Brooks County by the end of May, as very hot and dry weather prevailed over Deep South Texas from May 22nd until the end of the month.
Extreme (D3) drought conditions returned to extreme northern Starr County by the end of May, courtesy of very hot and drier weather from May 22nd through the end of the month in the Rio Grande Valley.
Severe (D2) drought conditions prevailed over western Kenedy County by the end of May as drier and hotter conditions developed over Deep South Texas after the 22nd.
The continuation of additive effects from locally heavy rainfall between May 14th and 17th continued to alleviate drought somewhat, if temporarily, in Zapata County. All but the northeast third of the county reverted back to moderate (D1) drought conditions; these conditions would continue until the end of the month.
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: 96926, 96928, 96929, 96934, 114621.