Drought in Texas, April 14 to 30, 2009

Name: Drought in Texas, April 14 to 30, 2009
Start: 2009-04-14T00:00
End: 2009-04-30T23:59
Location: Texas

April 14 to 30, 2009 · NWS BRO · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Below average precipitation and above average temperatures, combined with persistent winds and the seasonal increase of solar radiation, resulted in an intensification of the drought conditions across many portions of Deep South Texas. Very dry to Excessively Dry soil moisture resulted from the warm, dry, and breezy weather.

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS BRO wrote it up.

By the end of April, The United States Drought Monitor, Texas sector, showed drought conditions ranging from severe along the Rio Grande in Zapata and Starr Counties, to extreme and exceptional toward the coast, including most of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The drought conditions began to stress agricultural interests, including crops, pastures and grasslands.

What forecasters said that day

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 13, 7:18 PM CST, 4 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 13, 7:18 PM CST, 4 hours 42 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
818 PM CDT MON APR 13 2009

.DISCUSSION...
DRYLINE AGAIN ABLE TO DRIVE SOUTHEAST ALL THE WAY TO THE COAST
TODAY...BEFORE SEABREEZE BOUNDARY BEGAN TO MOVE INLAND.
TEMPERATURE SPIKED BETWEEN THE TWO THIS AFTERNOON...WITH
BROWNSVILLE REACHING 93 AND HARLINGEN REACHING 100. MOISTURE
SLOWLY MOVING INLAND...BUT AGAIN WILL NOT HAVE MUCH PUSH BEHIND IT.
MAY SEE A BIT OF FOG AGAIN TONIGHT...BUT VIS REDUCTIONS WILL BE
SLIGHT AND CONFINED TO EXTREME COASTAL REGIONS. WILL LEAVE FOG
MENTION OUT OF ZONES FOR THE NIGHT. LOWS FOR TONIGHT AROUND 60
LOOK ON TRACK...SO NO UPDATES WILL BE NEEDED.

&&

.AVIATION...
PLEASANT FLYING CONDITIONS ARE ANTICIPATED OVER DEEP SOUTH TEXAS
THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HOURS WITH LIGHT TO MODERATE WINDS AND CLEAR
SKIES.

&&

.MARINE...
BUOY 42020 REPORTED EAST-NORTHEAST WINDS AROUND 8 KNOTS GUSTING
TO AROUND 10 KNOTS WITH SEAS SLIGHTLY OVER 3.5 FEET WITH A PERIOD
OF 8 SECONDS AT 19 CDT/24 UTC. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE
TEXAS COAST WILL PRODUCE MODERATE WINDS AND SEAS ALONG THE LOWER
TEXAS COAST TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE INCREASED
INTERACTION OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO AND LOW
PRESSURE OVER NORTH TEXAS WILL INCREASE WINDS AND BUILD SEAS
OFFSHORE THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...WITH A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY
POSSIBLE.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 153 PM CDT MON APR 13 2009/

DISCUSSION...SFC TROUGH MOVG THRU BRO CWA TDA WITH BREEZY NW
WINDS IN ITS WAKE USHERING IN A MUCH DRIER AMS. FCST REASONING
SAME AS YESTERDAYS WHERE DRY/MOIST BOUNDARY WILL STALL OUT EAST
AND SOUTH OF THE AREA AND THEN ENCOUNTER SEA BREEZE. TDS SHOULD
RECOVER TNGT AND OVRNGT FROM EAST TO WEST. PATCHY DENSE FOG THIS
MRNG JUST NEAR COASTAL LOCALES COULD REPEAT ITSELF AGAIN EARLY TUE
JUST BEFORE SUNRISE AS PATTERN WILL BE SIMILAR...BUT FOR NOW LEFT
OUT OF GRIDS AND WILL LET LATER SHIFTS DECIDE IF ADDITION IS
APPROPRIATE. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO THE NW GULF AND LA TUE
INTO WED ALLOWING FOR A LIGHT TO MODERATE VEERING SFC FLOW TO TAKE
PLACE. SE SFC FLOW LOOKS TO BECOME ENHANCED ON WED INTO THU AS
HIGH SLIDES EWD INTO THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN GULF AND SFC LOW
PRESSURE DEVELOPS UPSTREAM NEAR FRONT RANGE. S/W TROUGH WILL DIVE
INTO FOUR CORNERS REGION ON THU WITH DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT LOCALLY.
TAIL END OF OLD FRNT SLIDES BACK NWD INTO DEEP SOUTH TX AS COLD
FRONT ASSOC WITH AFOREMENTIONED SFC LOW MOVES INTO WEST TX. CHC OF
PCPN IS XPCTD TO RETURN LATER THU INTO FRI. ATTM...FRNT APPEARS IT
WILL HANG UP TO THE NORTH ACROSS CENTRAL TX WITH SECONDARY LOW
PRESSURE DEVELOPING ALONG FRNT TOWARD THE MIDDLE OF THE WKND. COLD
FRONT WILL THEN PROGRESS SWD ON SUN INTO DEEP SOUTH TX PROVIDING
AREA WITH A POTENTIALLY GREATER CHC FOR PCPN.

&&

.BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...NONE.
GM...NONE.
&&

THIS PRODUCT IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT:
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BROWNSVILLE

64/66

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 13, 2:30 PM CST, 9 hours 30 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
330 PM CDT MON APR 13 2009

GMZ130-132-135-150-155-170-175-TXZ248>257-141100-
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-
330 PM CDT MON APR 13 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS...THE GULF
OF MEXICO AND THE LAGUNA MADRE.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.

A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED ALONG THE LOWER TEXAS COAST
THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY DUE TO STRONGER WINDS AND HIGHER SEAS. A
MODERATE TO HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT THE BEACHES OF SOUTH PADRE
ISLAND AND BOCA CHICA WILL LIKELY ACCOMPANY THESE ADVERSE MARINE
CONDITIONS. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ON SUNDAY MAY PRODUCE ISOLATED
AREAS OF HEAVY RAINFALL.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

TOMASELLI

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Brooks

When: April 14, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Brooks forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 27.032, -98.219 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

While some other locations in Deep South Texas experienced brief drought relief in the form of thunderstorms on the 17th and 18th, Brooks County largely missed the action, and the combination of continued above average temperatures, gusty winds, no rain, and low humidity pushed extreme (D3) to exceptional (D4) drought conditions across the county, with the exceptional conditions covering the north half. These conditions would continue through the end of the month.

Drought, Jim Hogg

When: April 14, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Jim Hogg forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 27.043, -98.697 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

In Jim Hogg County, drought conditions deteriorated through mid April, continuing through the end of the month, the result of little appreciable rainfall. Weakening thunderstorms moving out of Zapata County on April 17th and 18th helped reduce the acceleration of drought conditions.

The United States Drought Monitor, Texas sector, showed drought conditions had intensified to extreme (D3) drought conditions across the northeastern half of Jim Hogg County and that severe (D2) drought conditions was now occurring across all of southwestern half of Jim Hogg County on April 14th. A sliver of exceptional drought (D4) nudged across the border of Jim Hogg and Brooks County on the 21st of the month.

Drought, Willacy

When: April 14, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Willacy forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 26.477, -97.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

With virtually no rain falling across Willacy County through the remainder of April, drought conditions deteriorated further after mid month.

The United States Drought Monitor, Texas sector, reported conditions had intensified across all of Willacy County to extreme (D3) drought level by April 14th; these conditions would continue through the end of the month.

Drought, Cameron

When: April 14, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Cameron forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 26.152, -97.453 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

With virtually no rain falling across nearly all of Cameron County through the remainder of April, drought conditions deteriorated further after mid month.

The United States Drought Monitor, Texas sector, reported conditions had intensified across all but the southern tip of Cameron County to extreme (D3) drought level by April 14th; extreme conditions would continue through the end of the month across all but locations along the Rio Grande, including the City of Brownsville, which remained at severe (D2) drought level.

Drought, Hidalgo

When: April 14, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Hidalgo forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 26.397, -98.181 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought persisted, and eventually intensified, across Hidalgo County during the second half of April. Rapid deterioration of drought conditions may have been held up by local rains on April 18th, but the overall pattern of heat, wind, and low to moderate humidity returned soon after.

The United States Drought Monitor, Texas sector, reported drought conditions had intensified to extreme (D3) across the northeast and eastern portions of Hidalgo County with the remainder western three quarters of Hidalgo County continuing under severe (D2) drought conditions.

Drought, Coastal Cameron

When: April 14, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Coastal Cameron forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency

With virtually no rain falling across coastal sections of Cameron County through the remainder of April, drought conditions continued to deteriorate after mid month.

The United States Drought Monitor, Texas sector, reported conditions had intensified across all of coastal Cameron County to extreme (D3) drought level by April 14th; these conditions would continue through the end of the month.

Drought, Coastal Willacy

When: April 14, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Coastal Willacy forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency

With no rain falling across coastal sections of Willacy County through the remainder of April, drought conditions continued to deteriorate after mid month.

The United States Drought Monitor, Texas sector, reported conditions had intensified across all of coastal Willacy County to extreme (D3) drought level by April 14th; these conditions would continue through the end of the month.

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Texas in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, April 2009

Sources

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: 159267, 159268, 159270, 159271, 159272, 168239, 168240.