Name: Drought in Texas, May 1 to 11, 2009
Start: 2009-05-01T00:00
End: 2009-05-11T23:59
Location: Texas

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 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: 10

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.

Precipitation remained below normal and temperatures continued above normal across Deep South Texas the first few weeks of May. Soil moisture continued abnormally to excessively dry. The United States Drought Monitor reported that exceptional (D4) drought conditions continued across portions of Kenedy, Brooks and Jim Hogg Counties. The drought conditions continue to mainly affect agricultural interests, including crops, pastures and grasslands. The drought would further intensify toward the middle of the month after a late April into early May heat wave and increasing sun angle whisked even more moisture from the ground.

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 30, 7:30 PM CST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 7:30 PM CST, 4 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
830 PM CDT THU APR 30 2009

.DISCUSSION...WINDS ARE BEGINNING TO DIE DOWN THIS EVENING AFTER
A WINDY DAY. SUSTAINED SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH WINDS NEAR 30 MPH WITH
GUSTS NEAR 40 MPH WERE NOTED AT SEVERAL SITES TODAY...INCLUDING
BROWNSVILLE...HARLINGEN AND MCALLEN. A HEAT LOW OVER THE WESTERN
CWA AND FARTHER WEST INTO MEXICO INTERACTED WITH GULF OF MEXICO
HIGH PRESSURE TO TIGHTEN UP THE GRADIENT. A LARGE HELPING OF SUN
PERMITTED GOOD MIXING IN THE LOWER ATMOSPHERE AS WELL. AFTERNOON
CONVECTION THAT FIRED TO THE WEST OVER MEXICO IS ALSO WEAKENING.
A FEW RESIDUAL HIGH CLOUDS WILL MOVE OVERHEAD TONIGHT. SOME LOW
CLOUDS ARE ALSO EXPECTED TO MOVE ASHORE FROM THE GULF.

THE INHERITED FORECAST IS IN GOOD SHAPE. MADE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS
TO SKY COVER IN THE LONG TERM FOR CONSISTENCY PURPOSES...BUT LEFT
MOST EVERYTHING ELSE ALONE. THE LATEST GFS MOS GUIDANCE IS HINTING
AT STRONG SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH WINDS ON SATURDAY...BUT THIS IS NOT
SHOWING UP IN THE GRIDS JUST YET. PRESSURE FALLS OVER WEST TEXAS
AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING SHORT WAVE TROUGH WILL BE THE DRIVER FOR
THE EVENT.
&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 145 PM CDT THU APR 30 2009/ ...THE
COMBINATION OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT PLAINS AND HIGH
PRESSURE OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO IS CAUSING MODERATE TO STRONG
WINDS OVER DEEP SOUTH TEXAS TODAY. THE WIND IS JUST UNDER WIND
ADVISORY AND RED FLAG CRITERIA WITH SUSTAINED WINDS ABOUT 28 MPH
WITH GUSTS TO 35 MPH. THE RELATIVE HUMIDITIES ARE ABOVE 40 PERCENT
OVER MOST LOCATIONS OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS. WINDS SHOULD DECREASE
RAPIDLY THIS EVENING DUE TO DIURNAL EFFECTS. BRO SOUNDING THIS
MORNING SHOWED A PRECIP WATER OF 1.36 AND A K-INDEX OF 9. THE
PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL RELAX ON FRIDAY CAUSING JUST BREEZY WINDS
FOR MOST OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO BE
SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR DUE TO A MIX OF SUN
AND CLOUDS.

A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTH TEXAS ON SATURDAY
CAUSING WINDS TO INCREASE RAPIDLY. A WINDS ADVISORY AND A RED
FLAG WARNING ARE POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS ON
SATURDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO BE ABOVE NORMAL FOR THIS
TIME OF YEAR. WINDS WILL DECREASE SLIGHTLY ON SUNDAY AS THE LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS NORTH TEXAS. A TROUGH EXTENDING FROM
THAT LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL CAUSE A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SHOWERS OR
THUNDERSTORMS ON MONDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR NORMAL ON
MONDAY WITH INCREASED CLOUD COVER. A DRIER AND MORE STABLE WEATHER
PATTERN WILL BE IN STORE FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS BY THE MIDDLE OF
NEXT WEEK. ALSO SLIGHTLY LESS WINDS ARE EXPECTED AS THE PRESSURE
GRADIENT WILL RELAX SOMEWHAT BY THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK.
&&

.MARINE...THE 8 PM OBSERVATION FROM BUOY020 INDICATES WINDS WERE
EAST SOUTHEAST AROUND 12 KTS GUSTING TO AROUND 16 KTS AND SEAS WERE
AROUND 5.5 TO 6 FT WITH A PERIOD OF 7 SECONDS. MODERATE TO STRONG
ONSHORE FLOW WAS AGAIN FELT ACROSS THE LOWER TX COASTAL WATERS TDA.
HOWEVER...CONDITIONS ACROSS THE MARINE AREAS ARE BEGINNING TO SETTLE
DOWN THIS EVE. WINDS HAVE GRADUALLY DIMINISHED THRU THE AFTN INTO
THIS EVE ACROSS THE GULF WATERS AND SEAS HAVE SLOWLY SUBSIDED AWAY
FROM AROUND 7 FT EARLIER IN THE DAY NOW DOWN AROUND 6 FT OR SLIGHTLY
LESS. MADE SOME SLIGHT DOWNWARD ADJUSTMENTS TO OFFSHORE WINDS AND
SEAS THRU THE OVRNGT TO ACCT FOR CURRENT TRENDS AND ANTICIPATED
CONDITIONS REMAINING IN THE SCEC CATEGORY. EXPECTING ANOTHER
BREEZY DAY FRI ACROSS THE GULF WATERS BUT ATTM FEEL CONDITIONS
WILL REMAIN SCEC RATHER THAN SCA. WILL BRIEF LATER SHIFT WHO WILL
HAVE NEW MDL DATA TO REVIEW AND THEN CAN MAKE THE FINAL WORD ON
FRI FCST. WINDS ALSO DIMINISHING SLOWLY ACROSS THE LAGUNA MADRE
THIS EVE. SHOULD SEE TREND CONTINUE THE REST OF TNGT WITH SCA SET
TO EXPIRE AT 02Z. BREEZIER CONDITIONS COULD BE REALIZED ACROSS THE
BAY ON FRI WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR WINDS TO EXCEED SCA CONDITIONS
BY MIDDAY.
&&

.AVIATION...SKC CONDITIONS REPORTED EARLY THIS EVE AT THE TAF SITES
AND ACROSS MOST OF DEEP SOUTH TX. HOWEVER...CLOUD COVER ANTICIPATED
TO INCREASE OVRNGT AS NOCTURNAL LOW CLDS DVLP. ALSO...CIRRUS RESIDUE
FROM AFTN MEX STORMS WILL FILTER OVERHEAD BRIEFLY THRU THE BEGINNING
OF THE OVRNGT HRS. SE WINDS REMAIN BREEZY AT TIMES THIS EVE WITH A
GRADUAL DIMINISHING TREND EXPECTED OVRNGT. THEY ARE ANTICIPATED TO
INCREASE TO MODERATE BY MIDDAY FRI WITH GUSTS MAINLY FALLING INTO
THE LOW TO MID 20 KT RANGE THRU THE AFTN. SKY CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED TO BECOME MVFR OVRNGT AND RETURN TO VFR BY MIDDAY FRI.
&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
BAYVIEW/PORT ISABEL  77  88  77  88 /   0   0   0   0
BROWNSVILLE          75  89  75  90 /   0   0   0   0
HARLINGEN            75  92  75  93 /   0   0   0   0
MCALLEN              75  94  75  93 /   0   0   0   0
RIO GRANDE CITY      75  98  74  97 /   0   0   0   0
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND   76  82  75  84 /   0   0   0   0

&&

.BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...NONE.
GM...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR GMZ130-132-
     135.

&&

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

54/57

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 30, 8:35 PM CST, 3 hours 25 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
935 PM CDT THU APR 30 2009

GMZ130-132-135-150-155-170-175-TXZ248>257-011100-
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-
935 PM CDT THU APR 30 2009

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

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

THERE IS A HIGH RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS AT THE BEACHES OF SOUTH
PADRE ISLAND AND BOCA CHICA THROUGH TONIGHT DUE TO MODERATE TO
STRONG WINDS AND ELEVATED SEAS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

THE WEATHER PATTERN WILL REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR CONTINUED MODERATE
TO STRONG WINDS AND ELEVATED SEAS FRIDAY AND INTO THE UPCOMING
WEEKEND. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES WILL BE POSSIBLE DURING THAT TIME FOR
ALL OR PORTIONS OF THE LOWER TEXAS COASTAL WATERS. THE RIP CURRENT
RISK WILL REMAIN ELEVATED DURING THAT TIME DUE TO THE STRONG WINDS
AND ROUGH SEAS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Brooks

When: May 1, 12:00 AM CST to May 11, 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)

Precipitation remained below normal and temperatures continued above normal across Deep South Texas the first few weeks of May. Deep South Texas continued to experience abnormally to excessively dry soil moisture across the County Warning Area. The dry conditions resulted in the continuation of the exceptional (D4) drought conditions across the northern half of Brooks County and the extreme (D3) drought conditions across the southern half of Brooks County.

Drought, Kenedy

When: May 1, 12:00 AM CST to May 11, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Kenedy forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 26.928, -97.636 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Precipitation remained below normal and temperatures continued above normal across Deep South Texas the first few weeks of May. Deep South Texas continued to experience abnormally to excessively dry soil moisture across the County Warning Area. The dry conditions resulted in the continuation of the exceptional (D4) drought conditions across the northwestern tip of Kenedy County and the extreme (D3) drought conditions across the all of Kenedy County with the exception of the northwestern tip.

Drought, Jim Hogg

When: May 1, 12:00 AM CST to May 11, 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)

Precipitation remained below normal and temperatures continued above normal across Deep South Texas the first few weeks of May. Deep South Texas continued to experience abnormally to excessively dry soil moisture across the County Warning Area. The dry conditions resulted in the continuation of the exceptional (D4) drought conditions across the northeastern tip of Jim Hogg County and the extreme (D3) drought conditions across the northeastern half of Jim Hogg County with the exception of the northeastern tip and severe (D2) drought conditions across the southwestern half of Jim Hogg County.

Drought, Cameron

When: May 1, 12:00 AM CST to May 11, 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)

Precipitation remained below normal and temperatures continued above normal across Deep South Texas the first few weeks of May. Deep South Texas continued to experience abnormally to excessively dry soil moisture across the County Warning Area. The dry conditions resulted in the continuation of the extreme (D3) drought conditions across the northern three quarters of Cameron County and the severe (D2) drought conditions across the southern one quarter of Cameron County.

Drought, Willacy

When: May 1, 12:00 AM CST to May 11, 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)

Precipitation remained below normal and temperatures continued above normal across Deep South Texas the first few weeks of May. Deep South Texas continued to experience abnormally to excessively dry soil moisture across the County Warning Area. The dry conditions resulted in the continuation of the extreme (D3) drought conditions across all of Willacy County.

Drought, Hidalgo

When: May 1, 12:00 AM CST to May 11, 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)

Precipitation remained below normal and temperatures continued above normal across Deep South Texas the first few weeks of May. Deep South Texas continued to experience abnormally to excessively dry soil moisture across the County Warning Area. The dry conditions resulted in the continuation of the extreme (D3) drought conditions across the northeast and eastern one quarter of Hidalgo County and the severe (D2) drought conditions across the western three quarters of Hidalgo County.

Drought, Starr

When: May 1, 12:00 AM CST to May 11, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Starr forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 26.562, -98.738 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Precipitation remained below normal and temperatures continued above normal across Deep South Texas the first few weeks of May. Deep South Texas continued to experience abnormally to excessively dry soil moisture across the County Warning Area. The dry conditions resulted in the continuation of the severe (D2) drought conditions across all of Starr County.

Drought, Zapata

When: May 1, 12:00 AM CST to May 11, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Zapata forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 27.001, -99.169 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Precipitation remained below normal and temperatures continued above normal across Deep South Texas the first few weeks of May. Deep South Texas continued to experience abnormally to excessively dry soil moisture across the County Warning Area. The dry conditions resulted in the continuation of the severe (D2) drought conditions across all of Zapata County.

Drought, Coastal Cameron

When: May 1, 12:00 AM CST to May 11, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Coastal Cameron forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency

Precipitation remained below normal and temperatures continued above normal across Deep South Texas the first few weeks of May. Deep South Texas continued to experience abnormally to excessively dry soil moisture across the County Warning Area. The dry conditions resulted in the continuation of the extreme (D3) drought conditions across the northern three quarters of Cameron County and the severe (D2) drought conditions across the southern one quarter of Cameron County. This also included coastal portions of the county.

Drought, Coastal Willacy

When: May 1, 12:00 AM CST to May 11, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Coastal Willacy forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency

Precipitation remained below normal and temperatures continued above normal across Deep South Texas the first few weeks of May. Deep South Texas continued to experience abnormally to excessively dry soil moisture across the area. The dry conditions resulted in the continuation of the extreme (D3) drought conditions across coastal portions of Willacy County.

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

More

Every storm in Texas in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, May 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: 159503, 159511, 159515, 159517, 159518, 159520, 159522, 159523, 174093, 174094.