Frost and Freeze in Texas, December 7, 2011

Name: Frost and Freeze in Texas, December 7, 2011
Start: 2011-12-07T01:30
End: 2011-12-07T08:30
Location: Texas

December 7, 2011 · NWS BRO · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Surface high pressure with a touch of arctic air spread across all of Texas during the first full week of December, bringing several hours of temperatures at or below freezing during the early morning hours of December 7th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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.

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 Dec 6, 11:33 PM CST, 1 hour 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 6, 11:33 PM CST, 1 hour 57 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 6, 9:30 PM CST, 4 hours before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 frost/freeze. Local standard time, as filed.

Frost/Freeze, Jim Hogg

When: December 7, 1:30 AM CST to 8:15 AM CST
Where: Jim Hogg forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 27.043, -98.697 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Temperatures fell to 32 degrees between 130 and 5 AM, and continued falling into the 20s to around 30 across Jim Hogg County before rising above 32 degrees after 8 AM. Minimum temperatures dropped to 26 degrees at the Cooperative observing station in Hebbronville most likely around 7 AM. At Jim Hogg County Airport just northwest of town, temperatures were at or below freezing from 130 AM to 815 AM, bottoming out at 29 degrees.

Frost/Freeze, Zapata

When: December 7, 3:00 AM CST to 8:15 AM CST
Where: Zapata forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 27.001, -99.169 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Temperatures fell to 32 degrees around 3 AM and continued falling into the 20s across Zapata County before rising above 32 degrees after 815 AM. Minimum temperature dropped to 26 degrees at the Zapata County Airport in Zapata, most likely around 730 AM. At the natural gas processing plant in Escobas, temperatures were at or below freezing from 5 AM to 815 AM, bottoming out at 30 degrees.

Frost/Freeze, Starr

When: December 7, 3:00 AM CST to 8:15 AM CST
Where: Starr forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 26.562, -98.738 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Temperatures fell to 32 degrees around 3 AM and continued falling into the 20s across Starr County before rising above 32 degrees after 815 AM. Minimum temperature dropped to 26 degrees at the Cooperative Observer site at Falcon Lake. At the Cooperative Observer site in Rio Grande City, the minimum temperature was 31 degrees.

Frost/Freeze, Brooks

When: December 7, 3:30 AM CST to 8:30 AM CST
Where: Brooks forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 27.032, -98.219 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Temperatures fell to 32 degrees around 330 AM, and continued falling into the 20s across most of Brooks County before rising above 32 degrees toward 9 AM. Minimum temperatures dropped to a new calendar day record of 23 degrees at the Cooperative observing station west of Falfurrias most likely between 7 and 8 AM. At Brooks County Airport just southeast of town, temperatures were at or below freezing from 4 AM to 8 AM, bottoming out at 28 degrees.

Frost/Freeze, Kenedy

When: December 7, 3:30 AM CST to 8:30 AM CST
Where: Kenedy forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 26.928, -97.636 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Temperatures fell to 32 degrees around 330 AM and continued falling into the 20s across much of Kenedy County before rising above 32 degrees after 830 AM. Minimum temperature dropped to 25 degrees at the Cooperative Observer site in Armstrong. At the Cooperative Observer site in Sarita, the minimum temperature was 28 degrees.

Frost/Freeze, Willacy

When: December 7, 3:30 AM CST to 8:30 AM CST
Where: Willacy forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 26.477, -97.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Temperatures fell to 32 degrees around 330 AM and continued falling into the lower 30s across the eastern two thirds of Willacy County. Temperatures rose above 32 degrees around 830 AM. Minimum temperature dropped to 30 degrees at the Cooperative Observer site in Raymondville. The Cooperative Observe site in Port Mansfield also recorded a minimum of 32 degrees.

Frost/Freeze, Hidalgo

When: December 7, 3:45 AM CST to 7:45 AM CST
Where: Hidalgo forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 26.397, -98.181 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Temperatures fell to 32 degrees around 345 AM and continued falling into the 20s and lower 30s across the northern third of Hidalgo County and a highly populated stretch of Hidalgo County east of the Highway 281 corridor, between McAllen and Weslaco. Temperatures rose above 32 degrees around 745 AM. Minimum temperature dropped to 26 degrees at the Cooperative Observer site in San Manuel and at the Santa Ana RAWS site. A citizen weather site in La Joya also recorded a minimum of 32 degrees.

What these are

Frost/Freeze: Frost or temperatures at or below freezing during the growing season, usually filed for crop damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Texas in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, December 2011

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: 352493, 352494, 352495, 352492, 352496, 352498, 352497.