The latter half of August saw Drought conditions deteriorate, a result of days of heat and wind after the first, which continued for most days until month's end - with only a few periods of welcome rainfall, particularly on the 26th and again on the 31st. Along and west of Highway 281, high temperatures reached 100 or higher on twenty days of more, with McAllen/Miller Airport falling one day shy…
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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.
The latter half of August saw Drought conditions deteriorate, a result of days of heat and wind after the first, which continued for most days until month's end - with only a few periods of welcome rainfall, particularly on the 26th and again on the 31st. Along and west of Highway 281, high temperatures reached 100 or higher on twenty days of more, with McAllen/Miller Airport falling one day shy of their 2009 record (28 vs. 29). Dry, hot weather peaked on the 28th and 29th, when even areas near the coast pushed past 100 degrees.
Crop impacts were fully realized by the end of August, when a combination of crop damage with production loss of cotton, corn, and sorghum totalled more $25 million (preliminary insured) for the Rio Grande Valley as a whole (Starr, Hidalgo, Cameron, and Willacy). This was an increase of more than $17 million from the preliminary numbers ($8.8 million) which were largely realized during the late spring (May/June). Preliminary totals were $26,721,548, including earlier damage recorded this year. For each event, values listed are totals based on an additional lump sum of $17,886,641, added since last report (late July).
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 Aug 15, 11:25 PM CST, 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 1225 AM CDT TUE AUG 16 2011 .DISCUSSION...UPDATED FOR LATEST AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW. && .AVIATION...MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES CONTINUING THROUGH THE NIGHT. WINDS HAVE LOWERED TO AROUND 5KTS ALL AREAS...AND WILL STAY LIGHT THROUGH THE NIGHT. WINDS COME UP TO AROUND 15KTS DURING THE DAY TOMORROW...WITH A FEW GUSTS NEARING 20. CU FIELD SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY WITH SCT TO TEMPO BKN CU IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON...GRADUALLY THINNING LATER IN THE AFTERNOON. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BAYVIEW/PORT ISABEL 95 80 96 79 / 10 10 0 0 BROWNSVILLE 98 78 96 78 / 10 10 0 10 HARLINGEN 100 78 99 77 / 10 10 0 0 MCALLEN 103 80 100 79 / 10 10 0 0 RIO GRANDE CITY 103 78 102 78 / 10 10 0 0 SOUTH PADRE ISLAND 90 80 91 81 / 10 10 0 10 && .BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. GM...NONE. && THIS PRODUCT IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BROWNSVILLE 64/61
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 945 PM CDT MON AUG 15 2011 TXZ248>257-161100- ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY- INLAND CAMERON-COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON- 945 PM CDT MON AUG 15 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. ELEVATED HEAT INDEX VALUES OF 105 TO 111 ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. GMZ130-132-135-150-155-170-175-161100- 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- 945 PM CDT MON AUG 15 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR 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. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
D4 Exceptional drought conditions developed across the extreme northern portions of Zapata County as the month of August progressed due to the lack of rainfall across the county. Extreme D3 drought conditions prevailed across the rest of Zapata County the second week of August.
The drought conditions intensified across Jim Hogg County as the month of August progressed. Exceptional D4 drought conditions prevailed across the northern one third of the county and Extreme D3 drought conditions continued across the southern and central two thirds of the county.
The drought conditions intensified across Starr County as the month of August progressed. Extreme D3 drought conditions engulfed the entire county due to the continued lack of rainfall. By month's end, the annual total crop loss and damage to cotton, corn, and sorghum totaled $1,277,473.37.
Exceptional D4 drought conditions developed across the northern one third of Brooks County as the month of August progressed. Extreme (D3) Drought conditions prevailed across the south and central two thirds of Brooks County.
Lack of rainfall across the north and west portions of Hidalgo County would deteriorate drought conditions by mid month, with these areas reaching Extreme (D3) by the 16th. Severe (D2) Drought expanded east across Highway 281, but Abnormally Dry (D0) to Moderate (D1) conditions would prevail across the Lower Valley portion (Pharr to the Cameron County line, generally south of Highway 83) through the remainder of the month, aided by additional pockets of rain, particularly on the 26th and the 31st.
A bit to the north, Extreme (D3) conditions would expand to all areas west of Highway 281 from Edinburg South, and to all of northern Hidalgo County, by the 23rd; Severe Conditions would cover all but the southeast corner from the 23rd through the 31st. This increase occurred despite some of the aforementioned rain, which was not enough to counter the climatological rise in rain frequency that occurs from late August into September.
By month's end, preliminary crop damage and production loss to corn, cotton, and sorghum totaled $4,690,154.80.
Exceptional (D4) Drought conditions developed across the northern one quarter of Kenedy County as the month of August progressed due to the lack of rainfall. Extreme (D3) Drought conditions prevailed across the north central and western one half of the county; while Severe (D2) Drought conditions prevailed across the central and west central one quarter of the County.
Extreme conditions would spread to all but the southern quarter of the county, with Severe conditions covering the southern quarter, from the 23rd through the end of the month.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2011
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: 330365, 330366, 330367, 330368, 330369, 330370.